cock ‧ tail /ˈkɒkteɪl $ ˈkɑːk-/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: Probably from cocktail 'horse with a tail cut short so that it looks like a male chicken's, horse of mixed breed (with such a tail), mixture' (1800-1900) ]
1 . an alcoholic drink made from a mixture of different drinks
2 . seafood/prawn/lobster cocktail small pieces of fish, ↑ prawn s , or ↑ lobster served cold with a sauce and eaten as the first part of a meal
3 . fruit cocktail a mixture of small pieces of fruit
4 . a mixture of several things which is dangerous, unpleasant, confusing, or exciting
cocktail of
a lethal cocktail of painkillers and whisky
The book contains a powerful cocktail of romance, family crises, and big business.
⇨ ↑ Molotov cocktail