cocktail
/ˈkɒkteɪl/noun
1
- an alcoholic drink consisting of a spirit or several spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as fruit juice, lemonade, or cream鸡尾酒：
as modifier cocktail parties鸡尾酒会
a cocktail bar.
一间鸡尾酒吧。
1.1
- a mixture of substances or factors, especially when dangerous or unpleasant in its effects（尤指酝酿着危险或不良后果的不同物质或不同因素的）混合（物）; 混合因素：
financial pressure plus isolation can be a deadly cocktail for some people.
经济上的压力加上孤立可能会对某些人产生致命影响。
2
- a dish consisting of small pieces of food, typically served cold at the beginning of a meal as an hors d'oeuvre（尤指主菜前上的由小块食物组成的）开胃冷菜：
a prawn cocktail.
一份大虾冷盘。
词源
early 17th cent.: from COCK1 + TAIL1. 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 analogous, from the idea of an adulterated spirit.