A gin cocktail could make him benign (3)

I believe the answer is:

ben

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'a gin cocktail could make him benign' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

This is the entire clue.

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(Other definitions for ben that I've seen before include "Battle" , "Big . . . is a famous London clock-tower" , "High mountain (Scots)" , "A Gaelic mountain like Bulben" , "Boy for a Scottish mountain" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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