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Glite Dictionary
📝 To write formally 🚕 To stop a vehicle 🪖 To arrange in order 🧍 To stand tall
to draw up

to draw up

5 3.6
To stop a vehicle at a place
  • phrasal verb
  • /drɔː ʌp/
translation icon : detenerse
  • As she locked the door, a taxi drew up outside the hotel.
  • a car draws up
  • a taxi draws up
  • draw up in front

Examples

  • A number of cars were drawn up in front of the building.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • As soon as we draw up, open that door and straight in.

    A Hard Day's Night (1964)

  • When the battle was over, the buses drew up to carry the troops back to Fort Dix.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Two oxen pulling a small closed carriage drew up behind the horsemen.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • In the street, his Mercedes was drawn up right behind Beth's Volvo.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Through open windows, they hear the panting rumble of a truck drawn up at the curb.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • When we arrived at the venue, the driver drew up so we could get out.

  • As soon as the bus drew up at the stop, passengers began to get off.

  • After a long drive, they finally drew up to the entrance of the hotel.

Synonyms

to park
vsto draw up
819 1.0

To stop a vehicle and leave it in a place for a short time

focuses on stopping without implying leaving the vehicle behind
to pull over
vsto draw up
294 2.8

To move a vehicle to the side of the road and stop

is broader and can mean stopping at any specified place
to pull up
vsto draw up
163 2.8

To stop or slow down a vehicle at a place

is used for stopping at a particular place rather than general slowing
to pull in
vsto draw up
19 3.1

To arrive at a station and stop there

is limited to trains and stations rather than any vehicle stopping
to haul up
vsto draw up
  • UK
1 6.0

Stop a car or taxi at the side of a road

is a general phrase for stopping a vehicle at a chosen location
to pull in to the side of the road
vsto draw up
  • UK
3.0

Drive a car to the side of the road and stop

is the general term for stopping at a chosen place not only road edge
to draw in
vsto draw up
4.3

Arrive at a station

is similar but applies mainly to trains arriving at stations

How Stopped

to come to a halt
  • Informal
13 3.4
to draw up
5 3.6
to pull up
163 2.8
to slow down
687 1.4

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

draw + up

The meaning 'to straighten oneself to an erect posture' follows directly from combining 'draw' in the bodily sense 'to pull' with the directional particle 'up' (pull upwards), so a B1 learner who knows those constituent senses can infer the MWE. If a learner only knows the given sense of 'draw' as 'draft/compose', the connection is less clear, but the physical 'pull up' reading is common and cross-linguistically transparent, so overall the expression is compositional.

Etymology

Draw up (for a vehicle) comes from old horse-drawn carriages being pulled in until they stopped at the side of the road—the carriage was 'drawn up' to the curb. That's why draw up now means 'to stop' a vehicle at a place.