Drink a drop, shortly (3)
I believe the answer is:
tea
'drink' is the definition.
(tea is a kind of drink)
'a drop shortly' is the wordplay.
'a drop' becomes 'tear' (I've seen this before).
'shortly' means to remove the last letter.
'tear' with its last letter removed is 'TEA'.
(Other definitions for tea that I've seen before include "Infused leaves" , "Beverage; meal" , "Lapsang souchong" , "Sort of garden, chest or service" , "Assam, for instance" .)