(drä'mə, drām'ə)   

1. a. A prose or verse composition, especially one telling a serious story, that is intended for representation by actors impersonating the characters and performing the dialogue and action. 
    b. A serious narrative work or program for television, radio, or the cinema. 
2. Theatrical plays of a particular kind or period: Elizabethan drama. 
3. The art or practice of writing or producing dramatic works. 
4.  A situation or succession of events in real life having the dramatic progression or emotional effect characteristic of a play: the drama of the prisoner's escape and recapture. 
5.  The quality or condition of being dramatic: a summit meeting full of drama.

Source citation: "Drama." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 15 Jul. 2010. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/drama>.