■ noun
1》 an alcoholic drink consisting of a spirit mixed with other ingredients, such as fruit juice.
↘[as modifier ] relating to or associated with ~ drinking or formal social occasions: a ~ dress.
2》 a dish consisting of small pieces of food, typically served as an hors d'oeuvre: a prawn ~.
3》 a mixture of substances or factors, especially when dangerous or unpleasant: a potent ~ of drugs.
Origin
C17: from cock 1 + tail 1 ; earlier denoting a horse with a docked tail, later a racehorse which was not a thoroughbred (through having a cock-tailed horse in its pedigree).