milk

[ milk ]

noun

1. an opaque white or bluish-white liquid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals, serving for the nourishment of their young.
2. this liquid as secreted by cows, goats, or certain other animals and used by humans for food or as a source of butter, cheeses, yogurt, etc.
3. a glass, carton, etc., of cow's milk:

   We ordered two milks for the children.

4. any liquid resembling the milk of animals, as the liquid within a coconut, the juice or sap of certain plants, or various pharmaceutical or cosmetic preparations: a gentle cleansing milk for your skin.

   the milk of the rubber tree;

   a gentle cleansing milk for your skin.

5. a whitish, potable liquid made of ground nuts, legumes, seeds, or grain blended with water and often a sweetener, used especially as a substitute for dairy milk, its main ingredient as specified: almond milk; rice milk.

   nut milks;

   almond milk;

   oat milk;

   rice milk.

verb (used with object)

1. to press or draw milk from the udder or breast of.
2. to get something from, especially in a way that exploits or defrauds:

   The swindler milked her of all her savings.

3. to elicit or draw out a response from someone: The interview was an attempt to milk some sympathy out of what should have been a private tragedy.

   He knows how to milk an audience for laughs.

   The interview was an attempt to milk some sympathy out of what should have been a private tragedy.

4. to extract with effort as if by milking; squeeze:

   He always has to milk the last bit of toothpaste from the tube.

   She tried to milk a few more billable hours out of the contract.

verb (used without object)

1. to yield milk, as a cow:

   We called the vet when two of our Holsteins suddenly stopped milking.

2. to milk a cow or other mammal.

milk

/ mɪlk /

noun

1. 1. a whitish nutritious fluid produced and secreted by the mammary glands of mature female mammals and used for feeding their young until weaned
   2. the milk of cows, goats, or other animals used by man as a food or in the production of butter, cheese, etc lacteallactic
2. any similar fluid in plants, such as the juice of a coconut
3. any of various milklike pharmaceutical preparations, such as milk of magnesia
4. cry over spilt milk
   to lament something that cannot be altered

verb

1. to draw milk from the udder of (a cow, goat, or other animal)
2. intr (of cows, goats, or other animals) to yield milk
3. tr to draw off or tap in small quantities

   to milk the petty cash

4. tr to extract as much money, help, etc, as possible from

   to milk a situation of its news value

5. tr to extract venom, sap, etc, from

milk

/ mĭlk /

1. A white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals for feeding their young beginning immediately after birth. Milk is an emulsion of proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and sugars, especially lactose, in water. The proteins in milk contain all the essential amino acids.

Other Words From

• milk·less adjective
• o·ver·milk verb
• un·milked adjective
• well-milked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of milk¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English meol(o)ic, (Anglian) milc; cognate with German Milch, Old Norse mjōlk, Gothic miluks; akin to Latin mulgēre, Greek amélgein “to milk”

Word History and Origins

Origin of milk¹

Old English milc; compare Old Saxon miluk, Old High German miluh, Old Norse mjolk

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. cry over spilled / spilt milk, to lament what cannot be changed or corrected; express sorrow for past actions or events:

   Crying over spilled milk will do you no good now.

More idioms and phrases containing milk

In addition to the idiom beginning with milk , also see cry over spilt milk .

Example Sentences

They’ve been found in the blood, organs, and breast milk of humans.

From Science Magazine

I figured I should milk it and get a little bit more content after getting into makeup for that long.

From Los Angeles Times

The cocoa beverages were prepared by dissolving 12 g cocoa powder into 250 ml of whole milk.

From Science Daily

His herd of 400 cows are milked three times a day on behalf of a major milk supplier and his 18,000 hens lay eggs for a leading supermarket.

From BBC

"If I can go and buy a pint of beer I should be able to buy a pint of milk."

From BBC

Related Words

• bleed
• drain
• evoke
• extort
• extract
• suck
• wring