Draught (also spelled draft in American English) has several meanings:

1. A current of air moving through a room or space. When you feel a cold draught coming through a crack in the window, that's air flowing in from outside. Old castles were famously draughty, with cold air whistling through gaps in the stone walls. People sometimes put rolled-up towels at the bottom of doors to block draughts in winter.
2. A single act of drinking, or the amount drunk at one time. In old adventure stories, a character might take a long draught of water after crossing the desert. The word suggests drinking deeply and steadily, in one continuous motion.
3. The depth of water a ship needs to float. A ship with a deep draught needs deeper water to avoid scraping the bottom. This matters when ships enter harbors or travel through canals. Naval architects must calculate a ship's draught carefully when designing it.

Less commonly, draught can refer to pulling or hauling, as in draught animals like horses or oxen that pull plows or wagons. The word draughts (always plural) is also the British name for the board game Americans call checkers.