DRAUGHT, the act or action of drawing, extending, pulling, etc. (from the common Teutonic word "to draw"; cf. Ger. Tracht, load; the pronunciation led to the variant form "draft," q.v., now confined to certain specific meanings). It is thus applied to animals used for drawing vehicles or loads, "draught oxen," etc., to the quantity of fish taken by one "drag" of a net, to a quantity of liquid taken or "drawn in" to the mouth, and to a current of air in a chimney, a room or other confined space. In furnaces the "draught" is "natural" when not increased artificially, or "forced" when increased by mechanical methods (see BOILERS). The water a ship "draws," or her "draught," is the depth to which she sinks in the water as measured from her keel. The word was also formerly used of a "move" in chess or similar games, and is thus, in the plural, the general English name of the game known also as "checkers" (see DRAUGHTS). For the use of the term "draft" or "draught" in masonry and architecture see DRAFTED MASONRY.