milk
- Top 3000
Sense 1
- noun
- A1
A white drink that comes from cows and some other animals, and that babies also get from their mothers.
The baby drinks warm milk before going to sleep.
We ran out of milk, so I drank black coffee.
Pour the milk slowly into the flour and stir well.
Common collocations: a glass of milk · fresh milk · skimmed milk · milk and sugar · a carton of milk
Sense 2 · less common
- verb
- B1
To take milk from a cow, goat or another animal, by hand or with a machine.
He learned to milk cows on his grandparents' farm.
The farmer milks the goats early each morning and evening.
These cows are milked twice a day by machine.
Common collocations: milk a cow · milk the goats · be milked by machine
Sense 3 · less common
- verb
- C1
To get as much money or advantage out of something or someone as you possibly can, usually in an unfair way.
The company milked the story for weeks of free publicity.
Don't milk the joke; it stopped being funny hours ago.
He milked his injury to avoid every unpleasant task.
Common collocations: milk it for all it's worth · milk the system · milk a situation
Part of: Attitudes and opinions, Bank and money