Noah Webster
Dram
DRAM, noun [contracted from drachma, which see.]
1. Among druggists and physicians, a weight of the eighth part of an ounce, or sixty grains. In avoirdupois weight, the sixteenth part of an ounce.
2. A small quantity; as no dram of judgment.
3. As much spirituous liquor as is drank at once; as a dram of brandy. Drams are the slow poison of life.
4. Spirit; distilled liquor.
DRAM, verb intransitive To drink drams; to indulge in the use of ardent spirit. [ A low word expressing a low practice.]