dram

noun

1. (alt-of, alternative)A small unit of weight, variously:
2. (alt-of, alternative)A small unit of weight, variously:
3. (uncommon)A small unit of weight, variously:

   “Dram (49·5 grains), 100=chequi, 4=oka (2·8286 ℔); dram (49·5 grains), 180=rotl, 100=kintal or kantar (127·29 ℔).”

4. (obsolete)A small unit of weight, variously:
5. (broadly)Any similarly minute quantity, (now particularly) a small amount of strong alcohol or poison.

   “a dram of brandy”

   “Were I the chooser, a dram of well-doing should be preferred before many times as much the forcible hindrance of evildoing.”

   “When Friday came to him I bade him ſpeak to him, and tell him of his Deliverance, and pulling out my Bottle, made him give the poor Wretch a Dram, which, with the News of his being deliver'd, reviv'd him, and he ſat up in the Boat […]”

   “Oh, brethren, if you wants more preachin' Save a little dram for me (Glory hallelujah!) Drinkin' gin ain't against my teachin'”

   “Connoisseurs may prefer to savour their dram of single malt straight up. But, for beverage companies, that's not where the growth is.”

6. (historical)A cart formerly used to haul coal in coal mines.

   “The rolling stock, consisting entirely of four-wheel open trucks, or drams, was broken up at Bonvilles Court Colliery.”

7. (obsolete)Synonym of drachma: a Greek silver coin weighing one drachma; other similar coins.

   “They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams [i.e., the Persian daric] of gold, and five thousand pound of silver […]”

8. The currency of Armenia, divided into 100 luma.
9. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of dynamic random access memory.

verb

1. (dated, intransitive)To drink drams.

   “What I contend against is, this dramming, dramming, dramming, at all hours of the day. There are some men who take a glass at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and at four in the afternoon.”

2. (dated, transitive)To ply with drams of drink.

   “The parents[…]are getting ready their daughter for sale[…]praying her, and imploring her, and dramming her, and coaxing her.”