From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcocktailcock‧tail /ˈkɒkteɪl $ ˈkɑːk-/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 
DFDan alcoholic drink made from a mixture of different drinks2 → seafood/prawn/lobster cocktail3 → fruit cocktail4 MIXa mixture of several things which is dangerous, unpleasant, confusing, or excitingcocktail of a lethal cocktail of painkillers and whisky The book contains a powerful cocktail of romance, family crises, and big business. → Molotov cocktail
DFDan alcoholic drink made from a mixture of different drinks2 → seafood/prawn/lobster cocktail3 → fruit cocktail4 MIXa mixture of several things which is dangerous, unpleasant, confusing, or excitingcocktail of a lethal cocktail of painkillers and whisky The book contains a powerful cocktail of romance, family crises, and big business. → Molotov cocktailExamples from the Corpus
cocktail• Years ago, rooms would have a cocktail table that matched the end table and the sofa table.• It will test whether using a cocktail of five or more drugs is an improvement on three.• There's this one: a woman sitting in a bar, wearing a cocktail outfit.• He died after taking a lethal cocktail of alcohol and tranquilizers.• Johnnie cruised away with another tray of cocktails.• I find that traditional cocktail foods are always very popular and Devils or Angels on Horseback are a guaranteed success.• Roll up carefully from head to tail and secure with one or two cocktail sticks. 3.lethal cocktail• It probably illustrates it's a lethal cocktail of lorries and cars.• After all, each state comprised an often lethal cocktail of peoples.• In a flourish of biochemical altruism, they manufacture deadly molecules and then turn this lethal cocktail upon themselves.Origin cocktail (1800-1900) 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)) 