Cocktail

/ˈkɒk.teɪl/ · noun

Meaning

A mixed alcoholic beverage..

Definitions by Sense

1. A mixed alcoholic beverage.
2. (by extension) A mixture of other substances or things.
3. A horse, not of pure breed, but having only one eighth or one sixteenth impure blood in its veins.
4. (UK, slang, dated) A mean, half-hearted fellow.
5. A species of rove beetle, so called from its habit of elevating the tail.
6. (obsolete) Ostentatiously lacking in manners.
7. (transitive) To adulterate (fuel, etc.) by mixing in other substances.
8. (transitive) To treat (a person) to cocktails.

Example Sentences

They visited a bar noted for its wide range of cocktails.

[...] a certain candidate has placed in his account of Loss and Gain, the following items:-- LOSS [...] 411 glasses bitters[,] 25 do. cock-tail

Cock tail, then, is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters — it is vulgarly called bittered sling, and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head.

Deane opened the fray by declaring, à propos of dinners, that the only proper way to create a cocktail of the genus Martini was to add a half-spoonful of sherry after the other ingredients had been satisfactorily mixed, if at all.

He moved majestically down to mix the cocktails. As he chipped ice, as he squeezed oranges, as he collected vast stores of bottles, glasses, and spoons at the sink in the pantry, he felt as authoritative as the bartender at Healey Hanson's saloon.

The cocktail in Britain is a rigidly-defined social institution: each has its own particular meaning—the G & T is the alcoholic equivalent of the interview suit; Pernod and black is an alternative to glue sniffing for repentant trendies, etc.

Scientists found a cocktail of pollutants in the river downstream from the chemical factory.

a cocktail of illegal drugs

Synonyms for cocktail

Antonyms for cocktail

Related Words

Word Forms

• cocktails
• more cocktail
• most cocktail
• cocktailing
• cocktailed

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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