draw up
verb
drew up; drawn up; drawing up; draws up
transitive verb
1
: to bring (a body of troops) into array
2
: to prepare a draft or version of
draw up plans
3
: to bring to a halt
4
: to straighten (oneself) to an erect posture especially as an assertion of dignity or resentment
intransitive verb
: to come to a halt
the car drew up at the door
Synonyms
- arrest
- bring up
- catch
- check
- fetch up
- halt
- hold up
- pull up
- stall
- stay
- still
- stop
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
he drew up his horse outside the tavern drew up the troops into a line along the ridge
Recent Examples on the Web Earlier this week, authorities in the region also started to draw up emergency plans to evacuate civilians in the event of a disaster. 
Hyder Abbasi, NBC News, 27 Aug. 2022 Heavy pumping can send levels perilously low — and draw up salty remnants of oceans that covered the continent eons ago. John Flesher, Detroit Free Press, 27 Feb. 2022 Heavy pumping can send levels perilously low — and draw up salty remnants of oceans that covered the continent eons ago. John Flesher, chicagotribune.com, 26 Feb. 2022 Heavy pumping can send levels perilously low — and draw up salty remnants of oceans that covered the continent eons ago. John Flesher, ajc, 26 Feb. 2022 Anderson, along with commissioners Sheila DeCiccio and Kris Cruzada, voted no on directing city staff to draw up a new ordinance, which would have allowed for shorter rentals in certain instances. Ryan Gillespie, Orlando Sentinel, 25 Aug. 2022 Hegar was required to draw up the list by the law passed last year to protect Texas' big oil and gas sectors. Reuters, CNN, 24 Aug. 2022 Street takeovers often are advertised on social media and can draw up to 100 spectators to an intersection where racing or stunt driving tricks are performed. San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 June 2022 Denise Seidelman is a lawyer who works in New York and New Jersey helping people draw up agreements between donors and prospective parents. oregonlive, 2 May 2022 See More
Hyder Abbasi, NBC News, 27 Aug. 2022 Heavy pumping can send levels perilously low — and draw up salty remnants of oceans that covered the continent eons ago. John Flesher, Detroit Free Press, 27 Feb. 2022 Heavy pumping can send levels perilously low — and draw up salty remnants of oceans that covered the continent eons ago. John Flesher, chicagotribune.com, 26 Feb. 2022 Heavy pumping can send levels perilously low — and draw up salty remnants of oceans that covered the continent eons ago. John Flesher, ajc, 26 Feb. 2022 Anderson, along with commissioners Sheila DeCiccio and Kris Cruzada, voted no on directing city staff to draw up a new ordinance, which would have allowed for shorter rentals in certain instances. Ryan Gillespie, Orlando Sentinel, 25 Aug. 2022 Hegar was required to draw up the list by the law passed last year to protect Texas' big oil and gas sectors. Reuters, CNN, 24 Aug. 2022 Street takeovers often are advertised on social media and can draw up to 100 spectators to an intersection where racing or stunt driving tricks are performed. San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 June 2022 Denise Seidelman is a lawyer who works in New York and New Jersey helping people draw up agreements between donors and prospective parents. oregonlive, 2 May 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1608, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
drawing up
verb
1
as in stopping
to bring (something) to a standstill he drew up his horse outside the tavern Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- stopping
- halting
- pulling up
- stalling
- bringing up
- catching
- holding up
- fetching up
- checking
- blocking
- arresting
- staying
- holding back
- cutting off
- stilling
- hindering
- turning back
- holding
- suspending
- choking off
- ending
- impeding
- obstructing
- stemming
- snagging
- baffling
- concluding
- detaining
- clogging
- blockading
- balking
- damming
- reining (in)
- terminating
- bottlenecking
- suppressing
- discontinuing
- stunting
- squashing
- repressing
- calling
- squelching
- stanching
- staunching
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- keeping (on)
- keeping up
- running on
- continuing
- following through (with)
- carrying on
- proceeding
- moving
- persisting
- progressing
- marching
- advancing
- faring
- going along
- pushing
- wending
- driving
- stirring
- actuating
- propelling
- spurring
- goading
- impelling
- budging
2
as in classifying
to put into a particular arrangement drew up the troops into a line along the ridge Synonyms & Similar Words
- classifying
- organizing
- arranging
- ordering
- laying out
- disposing
- ranging
- making up
- codifying
- systematizing
- lining up
- grooming
- marshaling
- arraying
- placing
- setting out
- marshalling
- sprucing (up)
- straightening (up)
- tidying (up)
- aligning
- lining
- filing
- hierarchizing
- displaying
- sequencing
- queuing
- mapping (out)
- cuing
- prioritizing
- setting
- alphabetizing
- unscrambling
- emplacing
- alining
- cueing
- queueing
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- messing (up)
- mussing (up)
- upsetting
- disordering
- disarranging
- deranging
- rumpling
- disarraying
3
as in preparing
to put (something) into proper and usually carefully worked out written form draw up a proposal and submit it to the committee for approval Synonyms & Similar Words
- preparing
- composing
- drafting
- putting together
- writing
- crafting
- formulating
- casting
- framing
- building
- molding
- shaping
- making
- wording
- forming
- stating
- sculpturing
- phrasing
- penning
- fabricating
- verbalizing
- piecing (together)
- constructing
- expressing
- fashioning
- authoring
- assembling
- devising
- couching
- concocting
- inditing
- conceiving
- reframing
- compounding
- redrafting
- reformulating
- dog's-ear
- dog's-eared
- dog's-leg
- dog's-mouth
- dog's-mouths
- dog's-tongue
- dog's-tongues
- dog's-tooth bond
- dog's-tooth grass
- dog's-tooth violet
- dog-cheap
- dog-day cicada
- dog-ear
- dog-eared
- dog-eat-dog
- dog-faced ape
- dog-faced baboon
- dog-paddle
- dog-pile
- dog-piled
- dog-piles
- dog-piling
- dog-stopper
- dog-tired
- dog-toes