Definition of "drat"

Whereat Mr. Fussy Fumer, gravely displeased, hastens home and writes an anonymous letter to Mrs. Gamp, who joins him in dratting the 'imperent upstart,' and denouncing the incompetence of the police.

1882, The Japan Daily Mail, page 1129

"Drat that saw-dust, although I shouldn't forget it is the mill that feeds me and mine, but I get so wild when I think of the big fellows I have landed here in days gone by."

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 155

And should you be one of those conventional persons who thinks of parasites as abnormal or perhaps goes so far as to drat the varmints, you may be surprised to discover, as I did, that parasites live both inside and outside most organisms in all the kingdoms, which makes parasitism thoroughly normal […]

1999, Guy Murchie, The Seven Mysteries of Life: An Exploration in Science & Philosophy, page 14