The woman's eyes had began to draw up

[Maybo]

The woman's eyes had began to draw up, but they were a long way from becoming the slits through which Dora observed the world.

Source: Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Does "draw up" mean "look up"?

 

[emsr2d2]

No, I think it means that her eyelids had started to get closer to each other, making the visible part of her eyes smaller than before.

 

[teechar]

The woman's eyes had began to draw up,

For our learners, please note that the past participle of "begin" is "begun" (not "began").

 

[Maybo]

It should be “begun”. I typed it wrong.

 

[Rover_KE]

The woman's eyes had began to draw up, but they were a long way from becoming the slits through which Dora observed the world.

Source: Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Does "draw up" mean "look up"?

No. The second clause makes it clear that her eyes were slowly closing (though I've never heard 'draw up' used with that meaning).

 

[emsr2d2]

No. The second clause makes it clear that her eyes were slowly closing (though I've never heard 'draw up' used with that meaning).

Nor have I but you find plenty of new phrases in Stephen King's work.

 

[Rover_KE]

On a regular basis, I say that it's my belief that when Stephen King's creative muse finally deserts him, for a final payday he's going to compile a glossary of bizarre words and phrases found in his books (it'll be a very thick one).

 

[stanislaw.masny]

Nor have I but you find plenty of new phrases in Stephen King's work.

And quite a few pseudonyms,

 

[emsr2d2]

And quite a few pseudonyms.

I'm not sure what you mean about finding pseudonyms in his work. Are you referring to the fact that he publishes work under at least two other names?

 

[Maybo]

draw up

Is it similar to "squint"?

On a regular basis, I say that it's my belief that when Stephen King's creative muse finally deserts him, for a final payday he's going to compile a glossary of bizarre words and phrases found in his books (it'll be a very thick one).

Maybe I should read his early work. Would there be fewer creative phrases in there?

 

[dunchee]

Does "draw up" mean "look up"?

It means "pull up" or "move up."

In Dora's case, from King's novel, her facial features are "cruelly deformed," as if they were "drawn in charcoal" and some deity "rubbed its hand across them." Her eyes are so deformed that she can barely open her eyes, hence "the slits."

In the woman's case, not yet reaching the end stage, her eyes, like a charcoal drawing, were as if being "rubbed 'upward,'" so it gives the impression that her eyes move up.

 

[emsr2d2]

Maybe I should read his early work. Would there be fewer creative phrases in there?

Maybe in his more horror-based works, rather than the more fantasy-style ones like this one. His dialogue, though, has always been full of slang and colloquialisms and the like.