cocktail
UK/ˈkɒk.teɪl/US/ˈkɑk.teɪl/
cocktail noun: a mixed alcoholic beverage.
Noun
cocktail (plural cocktails, abbreviation ckt)
- A mixed alcoholic beverage.
- 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-tail1806 May 6, “Rum! Rum! Rum!”, in Balance and Columbian Repository, volume v, number 18, New York: Hudson, page 142
- Synonyms:
- mixed drink
- A mixture of other substances or things.
- Scientists found a cocktail of pollutants in the river downstream from the chemical factory.
- a cocktail of illegal drugs
- Synonyms:
- bouillabaisse, bric-a-brac, catch-all, clamjamfrey, rummage, salad, anthology, gallery, gatherum, congeries
- A horse, not of pure breed, but having only one eighth or one sixteenth impure blood in its veins.
- A “cock-tail” is a horse not purely bred, but with only one-eighth or one-sixteenth impure blood in his veins1868, Charles Darwin, The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, volume ii, John Murray, page 11
- A mean, half-hearted fellow.
- It was in the second affair that poor little Barney showed he was a cocktail.1854, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- coward
- A species of rove beetle, so called from its habit of elevating the tail.
Adjective
cocktail (comparative more cocktail, superlative most cocktail)
- Ostentatiously lacking in manners.
- It looks very cocktail to be seen riding through the streets of London in a scarlet coat ;1830, Sporting Magazine
- The Prince had nothing particular about him but a monstrous smart whip with a gold stag for a handle, which was pronounced a very cocktail looking instrument by the Leicestershire farmers, with whom His Serene Highness is no favorite1840, The Sporting magazine
Verb
cocktail (third-person singular simple present cocktails, present participle cocktailing, simple past and past participle cocktailed)
- To adulterate (fuel, etc.) by mixing in other substances.
- To treat (a person) to cocktails.
- He dined and cocktailed her at the most exclusive bars and restaurants.
cocktail meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
cocktail in Hindi
- alcoholic beverage
- कॉकटेल kŏkṭel
cocktail in Tamil
- பழச்சாற்று, பானச்சாற்று
cocktail in Marathi
- alcoholic beverage
- कॉक्टेल kŏkṭel
cocktail in Urdu
- alcoholic beverage
- کاک ٹیل kāk-ṭel
More languagesFewer languages
- cocktail in Bengali
- ককটেল, মদ্যের মিশ্রণ, মন্থিত পানীয়
- cocktail in Telugu
- కాక్టెయిల్, కాక్టైల్, కాక్టెయిలింగ్
- cocktail in Malayalam
- കോക്ടെയിൽ, കോക്ടെയ്ൽ, കോക്ടെയിലിംഗ്
- cocktail in Kannada
- ಮಿಶ್ರಿತ ಮದ್ಯ
- cocktail in Punjabi
- ਕਾਕਟੇਲ, ਕੌਕਟੇਲ, ਕੋਕਟੇਲ
- cocktail in Gujarati
- કોકટેલ, કોક્ટેલ, કોકેટેલ
- cocktail in Odia
- କକଟେଲ୍, କକଟେଲ, କୋକଟେଲ୍
- cocktail in Nepali
- ककटेल, कोकटेल, कॉकटेल
- cocktail in Tagalog
- koktel, kaktel
- cocktail in Arabic
- كُوكْتَيْل kuktayl, كُوكْتِيل kokteyl
- cocktail in Malay
- koktel
- cocktail in Indonesian
- koktail
- cocktail in Persian
- کوکتل koktel
- cocktail in Thai
- ค็อกเทล kɔ́k-teel
- cocktail in Vietnamese
- cốc-tai
- cocktail in Myanmar
- ကော့တေး kau.te:
Examples of cocktail in a sentence
- He moved majestically down to mix the cocktails.1922, Sinclair Lewis, “Chapter 8”, in Babbitt:
- Motor vehicles, for example, emit a cocktail of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, particulates, heavy metals and (for diesel) sulphur dioxide.2013, Andrew Farmer, Managing Environmental Pollution, Routledge, →ISBN, page 22:
Synonyms of cocktail
- mixed drink
- bouillabaisse
- bric-a-brac
- catch-all
- clamjamfrey
- rummage
- salad
- anthology
- gallery
- gatherum
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- congeries
- crazyquilt
- disjecta membra
- farrago
- galimatias
- gallimaufry
- grab bag
- hodgepodge
- horse and rabbit stew
- hotchpotch
- hotchpot
- job lot
- jumble
- macedoine
- medley
- melange
- mingle-mangle
- miscellanea
- miscellany
- mishmash
- mixed bag
- mixture
- motley
- odds and ends
- oddments
- olio
- olla podrida
- omnium-gatherum
- pastiche
- patchwork quilt
Forms of cocktail
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | cocktails |
| abbreviation | ckt |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more cocktail |
| superlative | most cocktail |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | cocktails |
| present participle | cocktailing |
| past participle | cocktailed |
| past | cocktailed |
Origin of cocktail
Early 17th century, from cock (“male bird”) + tail, in the sense “(a horse with its) tail standing up, like a cock’s”. The origin of the extension to “an alcoholic mixed drink” is unknown. One theory is that it refers to a stimulant (gingering), hence a stimulating drink; compare pick-me-up. Another attested use is for non-thoroughbred racehorses: these were considered "cock-tailed" due to their docked tails. This may have led to the term "cocktail" (sense 1) being used for an adulterated spirit.
Words formed from cocktail
- AIDS cocktail
- atom cocktail
- atomic cocktail
- beertail
- Brompton cocktail
- champagne cocktail
- cocktail ant
- cocktail bar
- cocktail cabinet
- cocktail dress
- cocktailery
- cocktail flu
- cocktail fork
- cocktail frank
- cocktail frankfurter
- cocktail frock
- cocktail game
- cocktail glass
- cocktail hat
- cocktailian
- cocktailing
- cocktail length
- cocktail lounge
- cocktail music
- cocktail onion
- cocktail party
- cocktail party deafness
- cocktail party effect
- cocktail party graph
- cocktail peanut
- cocktail sandwich
- cocktail sauce
- cocktail sausage
- cocktail sav
- cocktail saveloy
- cocktail shaker
- cocktail stick
- cocktail strainer
- cocktail table
- cocktail tomato
- cocktail waitress
- cocktailwear
- cocktail wiener
- colonic cocktail
- currency cocktail
- Darvon cocktail
- Dubonnet cocktail
- fruit cocktail
- kiddie cocktail
- locktail
- mocktail
- molotov cocktail
- Myers' cocktail
- phytococktail
- poptail
- prairie cocktail
- prawn cocktail
- prawn cocktail offensive
- scintillation cocktail
- virgin cocktail
Phrases with cocktail
- cocktail bars
- cocktail hats
- cocktail forks
- cocktail games
- cocktail franks
- cocktail frocks
- cocktail onions
- cocktail sauces
- cocktail sticks
- cocktail tables
- cocktail dresses
- cocktail glasses
16 more phrasesFewer phrases
- cocktail lounges
- cocktail parties
- cocktail peanuts
- cocktail shakers
- cocktail wieners
- cocktail cabinets
- cocktail sausages
- cocktail saveloys
- Molotoff cocktail
- cocktail strainers
- Molotov's cocktail
- cocktail sandwiches
- cocktail waitresses
- cocktail frankfurters
- cocktail party graphs
- cocktail party effects
Questions about cocktail
- What does cocktail mean?
- Cocktail means a mixed alcoholic beverage.
- What is cocktail in Hindi?
- Cocktail in Hindi is कॉकटेल (kŏkṭel). See Cocktail meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use cocktail in a sentence?
- He moved majestically down to mix the cocktails.
- What part of speech is cocktail?
- Cocktail can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce cocktail?
- Cocktail is pronounced /ˈkɒk.teɪl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of cocktail?
- The plural of cocktail is cocktails.
Words near cocktail in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cocktail (page history and authors); cocktail (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cocktail (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cocktail (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cocktail (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cocktail (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cocktail (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cocktail (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cocktail (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cocktail (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-cocktail.ogg.
Cite this entry: “cocktail.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cocktail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.