cocktail

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

cock·tail [cocktail cocktails] BrE [ˈkɒkteɪl] NAmE [ˈkɑːkteɪl] noun
1. countable a drink usually made from a mixture of one or more ↑spirits (= strong alcoholic drinks) and fruit juice. It can also be made without alcohol
•a cocktail bar/cabinet/lounge
2. countable, uncountable a dish of small pieces of food, usually served cold
•a prawn/shrimp cocktail
•fruit cocktail
3. countable a mixture of different substances, usually ones that do not mix together well
•a lethal cocktail of drugs
see also ↑Molotov cocktail

Word Origin:
early 17th cent.: from ↑cock + ↑tail. The original use was as an adjective describing a creature with a tail like that of a cock, specifically a horse with a docked tail; hence (because hunters and coach-horses were generally docked) a racehorse which was not a thoroughbred, having a cock-tailed horse in its pedigree (early 19th cent.). Sense 1 (originally US, also early 19th cent.) is perhaps an analogy, from the idea of an impure spirit.

Example Bank:
•The house cocktail is the caipirinha. Cheers!
•The show was a heady cocktail of jazz and political satire.
•a familiar face on the cocktail circuit
•a lethal cocktail of drink and drugs