Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DRAM, n. [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. – Dryden.
3. As much spirituous liquor as is drank at once; as, a dram of brandy. Drams are the slow poison of life. – Swift.
4. Spirit; distilled liquor. – Pope.