Dictionary

outdraw en · VERB

Etymology

From Middle English outdrauen, outdrawen, from Old English ūtdragan, from Proto-Germanic *ūtdraganą. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uutdreege, West Frisian útdrage (“to carry out”), Dutch uitdragen (“to carry out”), German austragen (“to deal with; deliver”), Icelandic útdraga (“to extract; draw out”). By surface analysis, out- + draw.

Meanings

1. To extract or draw out.
2. (qualifier:Wild West) To remove a gun from its holster, and fire it, faster than another.
   • Well maybe there's a God above, but all I've ever learned from love, was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you. 1984, Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah" (song)
3. To attract a larger crowd than.
4. To draw better than; to surpass in creating drawn artworks.
   • Certainly he could outdraw just about anybody, and he knew how to tell a story, seamlessly weaving words and pictures together. 2003, Bhob Stewart, Bill Pearson, Roger Hill, Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood, page 313:

Forms