fruit cocktail
4
2.3
- noun
- /fruːt ˈkɒk.teɪl/
:
cóctel de frutas
- For dessert, I enjoyed a refreshing fruit cocktail made with strawberries, kiwi, and pineapple.
- a canned fruit cocktail
- a fresh fruit cocktail
Examples
-
Molly tried to persuade Tina to come help her with her math, but Tina sat obdurately eating fruit cocktail until Nick suggested that they all go for a walk.
Fiction book (1991) -
Next, add your fruit cocktail and combine thoroughly.
Blog text (12) -
Then bring me a fruit cocktail while I wait.
-
Let me get you some fruit cocktail.
-
But you can always fish some out of a can of fruit cocktail.
-
We went to the dinner table and started in on our fruit cocktail, and then my dad walked in.
Fiction book (2000) -
Somebody gave us each a big bowl of fruit cocktail, and we sat there eating it.
Fiction book (1994) -
And since that night, the taste of fruit cocktail has always been magical to me, far-off, whatever that means.
Fiction book (1994) -
At quarter past one, I found Gloria alone at a table, eating vanilla yogurt and canned fruit cocktail.
Fiction book (1994) -
All summer, Doreen made this frozen salad with whipped cream, mayonnaise, fruit cocktail, and pecans in it.
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
13
1.0
A mix of different fresh fruits served as a dessert
A cold mix of small pieces of different fruits served as dessert
How Mixed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun 'cocktail' commonly denotes a mixture or combination of ingredients (not only an alcoholic drink), so 'fruit cocktail' transparently means a mixture of fruits. This is a straightforward noun+noun composition following regular English compounding, and a B1 learner who knows both words can reliably infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Fruit cocktail comes from the idea of a 'cocktail' as a mixed drink. One popular story says sellers used the fun image of a mixed cocktail to describe a can or bowl of different pieces of fruit, so today fruit cocktail means a mix of fruit pieces, often in syrup.