drama
    n 1: a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a
         stage; "he wrote several plays but only one was produced on
         Broadway" [syn: play, drama, dramatic play]
    2: an episode that is turbulent or highly emotional [syn:
       drama, dramatic event]
    3: the literary genre of works intended for the theater
    4: the quality of being arresting or highly emotional

Drama \Dra"ma\ (dr[aum]"m[.a] or dr[=a]"m[.a]; 277), n. [L.
   drama, Gr. dra^ma, fr. dra^n to do, act; cf. Lith. daryti.]
   1. 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.
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            A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon.
                                                  --Milton.
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   2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and
      interest. "The drama of war." --Thackeray.
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            Westward the course of empire takes its way;
            The four first acts already past,
            A fifth shall close the drama with the day;
            Time's noblest offspring is the last. --Berkeley.
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            The drama and contrivances of God's providence.
                                                  --Sharp.
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   3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or
      illustrating it; dramatic literature.
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   Note: The principal species of the drama are tragedy and
         comedy; inferior species are tragi-comedy,
         melodrama, operas, burlettas, and farces.
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   The romantic drama, the kind of drama whose aim is to
      present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like
      those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories
      told in dialogue by actors on the stage. --J. A. Symonds.
      Dramatic