Part 3449

<hw>Drake</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[Cf. F. <ets>dravik</ets>, W. <ets>drewg</ets>, darnel, cockle, etc.]</ety> <def>Wild oats, brome grass, or darnel grass; -- called also <altname>drawk</altname>, <altname>dravick</altname>, and <altname>drank</altname>.</def> <mark>[Prov. Eng.]</mark>

<i>Dr. Prior.</i>

<h1>Drakestone</h1> <Xpage=451>

<hw>Drake"stone</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>A flat stone so thrown along the surface of water as to skip from point to point before it sinks; also, the sport of so throwing stones; -- sometimes called <altname>ducks and drakes</altname>.</def>

<blockquote>Internal earthquakes, that, not content with one throe, run along spasmodically, like boys playing at what is called <b>drakestone</b>. <i>De Quincey.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Dram</h1> <Xpage=451>

<hw>Dram</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[OF. <ets>drame</ets>, F. <ets>drachme</ets>, L. <ets>drachma</ets>, drachm, drachma, fr. Gr. <?/, prop., a handful, fr. <?/ to grasp. Cf. <er>Drachm</er>, <er>Drachma</er>.]</ety>

<p><b>1.</b> <def>A weight; in <i>Apothecaries' weight</i>, one eighth part of an ounce, or sixty grains; in <i>Avoirdupois weight</i>, one sixteenth part of an ounce, or 27.34375 grains.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A minute quantity; a mite.</def>

<blockquote>Were I the chooser, a <b>dram</b> of well-doing should be preferred before many times as mush the forcible hindrance of evildoing. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>As much spirituous liquor as is usually drunk at once; <as>as, a <ex>dram</ex> of brandy</as>; hence, a potation or potion; <as>as, a <ex>dram</ex> of poison</as>.</def>

<i>Shak.</i>

<p><b>4.</b> <fld>(Numis.)</fld> <def>A Persian daric.</def>

<i>Ezra ii. 69.</i>

<cs><mcol><col>Fluid dram</col>, &or; <col>Fluid drachm</col></mcol>. <cd>See under <er>Fluid</er>.</cd></cs>

<h1>Dram</h1> <Xpage=451>

<hw>Dram</hw>, <tt>v. i. & t.</tt> <def>To drink drams; to ply with drams.</def> <mark></mark>

<i>Johnson.</i> <i>Thackeray.</i>

<h1>Drama</h1> <Xpage=451>

<hw>Dra"ma</hw> <tt>(?; 277)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>drama</ets>, Gr. <?/, fr. <?/ to do, act; cf. Lith. <ets>daryti</ets>.]</ety>

<p><b>1.</b> <def>A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action, and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by actors on the stage.</def>

<blockquote>A divine pastoral <b>drama</b> in the Song of Solomon. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and interest.</def> "The <i>drama</i> of war."

<i>Thackeray.</i>

<blockquote>Westward the course of empire takes its way; The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the <b>drama</b> with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last. <i>Berkeley.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>The <b>drama</b> and contrivances of God's providence. <i>Sharp.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or illustrating it; dramatic literature.</def>

<note>&hand; The principal species of the drama are <i>tragedy</i> and <i>comedy</i>; inferior species are <i>tragi-comedy</i>, <i>melodrama</i>, <i>operas</i>, <i>burlettas</i>, and <i>farces</i>.</note>