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Glite Dictionary
🧲 To attract people 😮‍💨 To inhale 🦵 To curl up 🎣 To pull inward 🔄 To approach closely 🚆 To arrive
to draw in

to draw in

1 4.6
Curl the body inward because of cold or fear
  • phrasal verb
  • /drɔ ɪn/
translation icon : encogerse
  • Startled by the loud noise, he drew in his body and looked around cautiously.
  • draw in your legs
  • draw in your knees
  • mouth drawn in

Examples

  • As the wind picked up, the kitten drew in its tail and curled up tightly.

  • Her face drew in on itself.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Everyone sort of draws in their breath and steps aside, revealing the kid, standing alone.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • When he realized that no one gave her a glance, he drew in his right leg.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Myrmeen drew in a deep breath and looked up.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Lynch drew in his breath with a sharp hiss.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • "You think he might have poisoned Stafford?" Livesey drew in a sharp breath and let it out slowly.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Giving up on the dog, Shan trudged through goldenrod to the tree's foot, squinted up, and drew in his inward breath.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • She felt a chill in the air and instinctively drew in her arms to keep warm.

Synonyms

to curl up
vsto draw in
  • Informal
57 2.8

To move your body so your arms and legs are close together to feel warm and safe

is an inward contraction often caused by fear, pain, or cold
to squinch
vsto draw in
  • Archaic
1 9.9

To pull part of your body back when you feel pain or fear

is a general inward curling also used for cold and pain

Antonyms

to expand
805 2.5

To grow larger in size, amount, or importance

How Curled

to curl up
  • Informal
57 2.8
to draw in
1 4.6
to cower
41 6.1
to hunch
51 4.2

Surface Forms

draw in infinitive
drawing in present participle
draws in third person singular
drew in past
drawn in past participle

Morphology

draw + in

The meaning 'to attract or engage' is directly derivable from combining 'draw' (to pull/attract) with the directional particle 'in' (toward/into): together they yield the sense 'pull in' or 'bring in' people/attention. This verb+particle composition follows a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will likely infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Draw in comes from the image of making your body smaller by pulling your arms and legs toward your chest: draw 'pull' and in 'toward yourself', like a child who curls up when scared or cold. So it means 'to contract or curl your body inward'.