An adjective describing a chain macromolecule that behaves in a hydrodynamic field as though the solvent within the domain of the macromolecule were progressively more immobilized with respect to the macromolecule in the direction from its outer fringes inward. A freely draining macromolecule and a non-draining macromolecule are two extremes of the concept of a partially draining macromolecule.