1
a
: a usually iced drink of wine or distilled liquor mixed with flavoring ingredients
b
: something resembling or suggesting such a drink as being a mixture of often diverse elements or ingredients
a cocktail of remembered incidents and pure imagination—
Charlotte Low
Charlotte Lowa cocktail of herbicides
c
: a mixture of agents usually in solution that is taken or used especially for medical treatment or diagnosis
2
: an appetizer served as a first course at a meal
1
: of, relating to, or set aside for cocktails
a cocktail hour
2
: designed for semiformal wear
a cocktail dress
: a horse with its tail docked
Examples of cocktail in a Sentence
Noun (1)
an autopsy found a lethal cocktail of banned substances in the actor's body
Recent Examples on the Web
Taylor Tobin, Southern Living, 20 Oct. 2025
Batched cocktails will be added to the menu soon.
—Rachel Bernhard, jsonline.com, 20 Oct. 2025
Skip the coffee, cocktails, and carbonated drinks—here’s what to eat instead for a smoother journey.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 20 Oct. 2025
The program will teach you everything from rum production methods and blending techniques to flavor profiling, as well as how to create spiced rum and cocktails.
—Essence, 20 Oct. 2025
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Noun
Chefs from culinary hotspots like Los Angeles, New York City, and Mexico City have opened Austin restaurants, and the average price of a restaurant entree and a craft cocktail seems to be inching up every day.
—Taylor Tobin, Southern Living, 20 Oct. 2025
Batched cocktails will be added to the menu soon.
—Rachel Bernhard, jsonline.com, 20 Oct. 2025
Skip the coffee, cocktails, and carbonated drinks—here’s what to eat instead for a smoother journey.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 20 Oct. 2025
The program will teach you everything from rum production methods and blending techniques to flavor profiling, as well as how to create spiced rum and cocktails.
—Essence, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cocktail
Cite this Entry
“Cocktail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cocktail. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
cocktail
noun
cock·tail
ˈkäk-ˌtāl 
: a mixture of agents usually in solution that is taken or used especially for medical treatment or diagnosis
a potent cocktail of antiretroviral drugs—Zia Jaffrey
Zia Jaffreychemotherapy cocktails to treat cancer—J. L. Swerdlow
J. L. SwerdlowLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
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