<HEAD><TITLE>DICTIONARY: dram - drastic</TITLE></HEAD>
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<A NAME="dram">
<B>dram, </B>noun, verb, <B>drammed,</B> <B>dramming.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a small weight. In apothecaries' weight, 8 drams make one ounce and each dram is 3.88 grams; in avoirdupois weight, 16 drams make one ounce and each dram is 1.77 grams. (Abbr:) dr. <DD><B> 2. </B>= fluid dram. <DD><B> 3. </B>a small drink of intoxicating liquor. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Especially British, Figurative.) a small amount of anything. Also, (British,) <B>drachm.</B> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to drink drams; tipple. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to give a dram or drams to. </DL>
<A NAME="drama">
<B>drama, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a play such as one sees in a theater; story written to be acted out by actors on the stage. <BR> <I>Ex. The play "Hamlet" is a chilling drama about a king and queen of Denmark and their son.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the art of writing, acting, or producing plays. <BR> <I>Ex. He is studying drama.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a part of real life that seems to have been planned like a story or play. <BR> <I>Ex. The history of America is a great and thrilling drama.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>dramatic quality; action or excitement. <BR><I>expr. <B>the drama,</B> </I>the branch of literature having to do with plays. <BR> <I>Ex. The Drama, which makes so great and so lucrative a part of Poetry (Alexander Pope).</I> </DL>
<B>dramatic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of drama; having to do with plays. <BR> <I>Ex. a dramatic actor, a dramatic success. The players are all accomplished ... but the total effect they give is that of performing a rather difficult exercise at an advanced school of dramatic art (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>seeming like a drama or play; full of action or feeling; exciting. <BR> <I>Ex. Abraham Lincoln's life was dramatic, from its beginnings to its end.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>striking; impressive. <BR> <I>Ex. a dramatic combination of colors.</I> </DL>
<B>dramatically, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a dramatic manner. </DL>
<A NAME="dramaticirony">
<B>dramatic irony,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a theatrical or literary device in which the audience is aware of some fact or action that acts upon one or all of the characters without their knowledge. </DL>
<B>dramatic monologue,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a poem in which only one character speaks. </DL>
<A NAME="dramatics">
<B>dramatics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the art of acting or producing plays. <DD><B> 2. </B>plays given by amateurs. <DD><B> 3. </B>tendency to show off; dramatic behavior. <BR> <I>Ex. Such dramatics as that child goes into, the minute you let her loose!</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dramatictenor">
<B>dramatic tenor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a rich, powerful tenor voice with a heavier and stronger lower range than the lyric tenor. <DD><B> 2. </B>a man with such a voice, especially one who sings operatic parts written for this type of voice; heroic tenor. </DL>
<A NAME="dramaticule">
<B>dramaticule, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small or minor play. <BR> <I>Ex. The anniversary is celebrated by ... a volume of collected prose pieces and a short "dramaticule" or one-scene play, "Come and Go" (Cyril Connolly).</I> </DL>
<B>dramatis personae,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the characters or actors in a play. <BR> <I>Ex. To prove a point ... Mr. Hawley has first to put his extensive dramatis personae through a series of terrifying ordeals (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a list of them. <BR> <I>Ex. The dramatis personae calls for more than 100 Negro performers (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the characters in a novel, poem, motion-picture, or anything dramatic. <BR> <I>Ex. The dramatis personae of his pictures are mostly glistening fish, their hue a glowing red or livid blue (London Times). Another gentleman got into the elevator with me, Mr. Norman Mack, one of the chief dramatis personae of the plot (Esquire).</I> <DD> (Abbr:) dram. pers. </DL>
<A NAME="dramatist">
<B>dramatist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a writer of plays; playwright. <BR> <I>Ex. The dramatist rewrote some of the scenes of his play to suit the story better.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dramatizable">
<B>dramatizable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be dramatized; suitable for dramatization. </DL>
<A NAME="dramatization">
<B>dramatization, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of dramatizing. <BR> <I>Ex. The children's dramatization of Rip Van Winkle was funny.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>what is dramatized. <BR> <I>Ex. That play is a dramatization of the life of Lincoln.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dramatize">
<B>dramatize, </B>verb, <B>-tized,</B> <B>-tizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to arrange or present in the form of a play; make a drama of. <BR> <I>Ex. The children dramatized the story of Rip Van Winkle.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to make seem exciting and thrilling; show or express in a dramatic way. <BR> <I>Ex. The speaker dramatized his adventures with many actions and gestures.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to behave dramatically; act in an exaggerated or emotional manner. <BR> <I>Ex. Stop dramatizing and describe exactly what happened.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to adapt to dramatization. <BR> <I>Ex. The story would dramatize admirably (New Monthly Magazine).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to write plays. <BR> <I>Ex. the language in which Shakespeare dramatized.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dramatizer">
<B>dramatizer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who dramatizes. </DL>
<A NAME="dramaturge">
<B>dramaturge, </B>noun. <B>=dramatist.</B></DL>
<A NAME="dramaturgic">
<B>dramaturgic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with dramaturgy. adv. <B>dramaturgically.</B> </DL>
<B>dramaturgy, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the art of writing or producing dramas. <BR> <I>Ex. a triumph of motion picture dramaturgy(Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="drameaclef">
<B>drame a clef,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a play whose characters and situations represent real people and events. <DD><B> 2. </B>(literally) drama with a key (to the actual people and events portrayed). </DL>
<A NAME="drameathese">
<B>drame a these,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a play with a thesis; play created for the purpose of expounding or illustrating an idea, doctrine, or theory. </DL>
<A NAME="dramedy">
<B>dramedy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a situation comedy containing elements of realistic drama. </DL>
<A NAME="drammach">
<B>drammach, </B>noun. <B>=drammock.</B></DL>
<A NAME="drammagiocoso">
<B>dramma giocoso,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Italian.) jocose drama; comedy. <BR> <I>Ex. Paisiello's little opera is a delicious sample of the older dramma giocoso--not a Himalayan masterpiece, but a masterly comedy of the second rank (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="drammock">
<B>drammock, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) meal mixed with water, without cooking. Also, <B>drummock.</B> </DL>
<B>dramshop, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British.) a place where intoxicating liquor is sold; saloon; barroom. </DL>
<A NAME="drangnachosten">
<B>Drang nach Osten,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (German.) drive to the east; Germany's former imperialistic plan to dominate regions as far east as Asia. <BR> <I>Ex. For half a century Germany's diplomats and big industrialists, deep in Drang nach Osten ... talked of a Berlin-to-Baghdad railway (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="drank">
<B>drank, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> past tense of <B>drink.</B> <BR> <I>Ex. She drank her milk an hour ago.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="drapability">
<B>drapability, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality of being drapable. <BR> <I>Ex. ... drapability, that is, hanging like cloth (Listener).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="drapable">
<B>drapable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be draped or made into a drape. <BR> <I>Ex. A highly drapable fabric for toques and turbans is satin (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="drape">
<B>drape, </B>verb, <B>draped,</B> <B>draping,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to cover or hang with cloth falling loosely in folds, especially as a decoration. <BR> <I>Ex. The buildings were draped with red, white, and blue bunting.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to arrange (clothes, hangings, or other cloth) to hang loosely in folds. <BR> <I>Ex. The servant draped the cape around his master's shoulders.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> cloth hung in folds; hanging; drapery. <BR> <I>Ex. There are heavy drapes on the large windows in the living room.</I> </DL>
<B>draper, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Especially British.) a dealer in cloth or dry goods. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who drapes. <BR> <I>Ex. Then the garment returns to the draper, who adjusts the skirt and waist on a dummy figure (Bernice G. Chambers).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="draperied">
<B>draperied, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> covered with or as if with drapery; draped. </DL>
<A NAME="drapery">
<B>drapery, </B>noun, pl. <B>-peries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>hangings or clothing arranged in folds, especially such hangings hung as curtains. <BR> <I>Ex. The gay colors of the drapery made the living room bright and cheery.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the graceful arrangement of hangings or clothing, especially in painting and sculpture. <DD><B> 3. </B>cloths or fabrics; dry goods. <DD><B> 4. </B>the business of a draper. <BR> <I>Ex. I've been working for him at the drapery ... for nearly five years (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="drastic">
<B>drastic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> acting with force or violence; extreme; vigorous. <BR> <I>Ex. The police took drastic measures to put a stop to the wave of robberies. Drastic ills need drastic remedies.</I> adv. <B>drastically.</B> </DL>
