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• dram
  dram
• DRAM
  DRAM

  abbreviation

  dynamic RAM.

dram

¹ American  

[dram] / dræm /

noun

• drams
  plural

1. Measurements.

   1. a unit of apothecaries' weight, equal to 60 grains, or 1/8 (0.125) ounce (3.89 grams).

   2. 1/16 (0.0625) ounce, avoirdupois weight (27.34 grains; 1.77 grams). dr., dr

2. fluid dram.

3. a small drink of liquor.

4. a small quantity of anything.

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verb (used without object)

drammed, dramming

1. Archaic. to drink drams; tipple.

verb (used with object)

drammed, dramming

1. Archaic. to ply with drink.

DRAM ² American  

[dee-ram] / ˈdiˌræm /

abbreviation

Computers.

1. dynamic RAM.

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dram ¹ British  

/ dræm /

noun

1. one sixteenth of an ounce (avoirdupois). 1 dram is equivalent to 0.0018 kilogram

2. Also called: drachm.   drachma.  one eighth of an apothecaries' ounce; 60 grains. 1 dram is equivalent to 0.0039 kilogram

3. a small amount of an alcoholic drink, esp a spirit; tot

4. the standard monetary unit of Armenia, divided into 100 lumas

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DRAM ² British  

/ ˈdiːræm /

acronym

1. dynamic random access memory: a widely used type of random access memory See RAM 1

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noun

1. a chip containing such a memory

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• half-dram
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• drams
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dram

1400–50; late Middle English dramme, assimilated variant of dragme < Old French < Late Latin dragma, Latin drachma drachma

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dram DRAM drams drammed dramming

Oddly, Sphere’s “Oz” loses a dram of its spellcraft once audiences touch down in Munchkinland.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2025

To him, spirits provided what he called “accessible luxury” to customers — a dram of the good life even in an unstable economy.

From New York Times ● Jun. 14, 2023

White has just played 90. b2-b3 when the dram really kicks in.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 9, 2022

This joke was a reference to the 1997 US war dram GI Jane, which saw Demi Moore shave her head to play Jordan O'Neil, the first woman to undergo Navy Seal training.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2022

“Oi’ve even got a dram o’ somethin’ tae season et.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

The three together dominate the business of memory chips called DRAM, which get used alongside Nvidia’s processor chips for AI computing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

The brokerage estimates a three-fold increase in HBM price is needed for HBM revenue per wafer capacity to catch up with conventional DRAM.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

Moreover, those tight market conditions apply to both high-end memory chips and the more traditional dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026

In the past three demand cycles dating back to the 1990s, Micron stock has peaked two to four months before dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM, prices.

From Barron's ● Mar. 9, 2026

The soaring cost of memory components like dynamic random-access memory chips, or DRAM, is a real concern.

From Barron's ● Mar. 9, 2026

Line of Duty launched in 2012 and went on to become one of the most popular TV drams of the last decade.

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026

“So you have those thoughts. Whatever their drams and goals are, I’m OK with. The ones we are honoring, we know this is their last.”

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2019

Cullen, 59, recalls the noise it used to make: the clatter of drams packed with coal being raised from the shaft.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2016

They brought their strong accents and multiplicity of tongues, their histories from Africa, France, Native America mingled with generous drams of so-called white blood, European blood.

From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2015

We spliced the mainbrace, or, as you would say, served out drams; and the helm being lashed a-lee, the ship's company were sent below, to obtain the rest they stood so much in need of.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 11 by John Mackay Wilson

Saul was profoundly conscious of the yoke; only he had not drammed that his own deliverance could come from such a quarter.

From The Making of the New Testament by Benjamin Wisner Bacon

For until the third century no one drammed of understanding the "John" of Rev. i.

From The Making of the New Testament by Benjamin Wisner Bacon

"I don't like to hear about that dramming business," was Val's comment to me later.

From Up in Ardmuirland by Michael Barrett

Chance, my dear Bob,—chance is ten times a more intoxicating liquor than champagne, and once take to "dramming" with fortune, and you may bid a long adieu to sobriety!

From The Dodd Family Abroad, Vol. I by Charles James Lever