A drawing hand refers to a hand which is one card short of a good hand. This usually implies one card short of a straight or flush but in unlikely cases may also be for a full house or four of a kind.

A player usually speaks of having a straight draw or flush draw. One may also have an open ended straight draw which means their straight can be completed by either a high or low card.

These two drawing hands are most frequently mentioned as they have the highest number of outs. They are also hands that are worthless if the needed card does not come.

Two pair for example is technically also a full house draw, though the term is rarely used. If the player does not make their full house they still have two pair, a decent hand. Since they have only 4 outs usually it is not a very good drawing hand -- the merit of the two pair must be played on its own, and an eventual full house simply a bonus.