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to milk

to milk

38 7.8
Use a situation to get personal benefit, often unfairly
  • verb
  • /mɪlk/
  • Informal
: exprimir
  • Many members of Congress were evidently happy to milk the public.
  • milk the system
  • milk it
  • milk for cash

And basically we milk money by not paying taxes.

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Examples

  • Government bureaucracies were slowly destroyed by corrupt management and milked for resources for patronage.

    Academic text (2003)
  • I think we milked it a little there at the end, though.

  • So yeah, why not milk that one next?

  • And basically we milk money by not paying taxes.

  • It seems from the outside that you milk every possible thing.

  • Come on, stop milking it.

  • I wanna milk the last ounce of baseball you got in you.

  • Surely there were weeks of episodes to be milked from it—not to mention the question of paternity.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Are these media organizations trying to milk the anniversary for ratings and circulation?

  • By hosting visitors, farmers are able to milk more dollars out of their land.

Idioms

To waste time being upset about something that already happened and cannot be changed

2 7.8

A natural kindness and care for other people

9.9

A sign that something is wrong or unusual in a situation

Compounds

A sweet drink you make by mixing milk with chocolate

31 1.8

Milk made by a mother to feed her baby

20 1.0

A sweet cold drink you get by mixing milk with ice cream or fruit

16 1.9

Milk made from soybeans used instead of regular milk

13 2.0

Milk with the cream removed so it has little fat

12 3.4

Milk that is not heated to kill germs

12 1.0

A white creamy liquid made from grated coconut flesh for cooking and drinks

12 1.0

Milk that still has its natural fat, about three percent

11 2.4

A woman makes this natural food for her newborn baby after birth

A sweet chocolate made with milk and sugar that tastes creamy

7 1.8

Milk that has gone bad and smells and tastes unpleasant

7 1.0

A cow kept to give milk for people to drink

7 1.5

Milk from a goat used for drinking and making cheese

7 2.8

Milk made from ground almonds and water

A sweet thick milk with most water removed and sugar added

5 1.0

A bottle used to hold milk for feeding babies

Dry milk that you mix with water to make liquid milk

5 1.0

Milk that has less fat than whole milk

Milk with much of its water removed and kept in a can for cooking

milk sugar
  • Specialized
3 2.7

A sugar in milk that gives it a slightly sweet taste

A white liquid medicine that helps if you cannot poo and eases heartburn

2 1.8

A dry powder made from milk that you add to water to make milk

2 1.4

Milk with most cream removed so it has little fat

1 1.6

A large metal container with a lid used to store and carry milk

1 3.7

A white color like fresh milk

1 2.2

Milk heated to kill harmful germs so it lasts longer

ice milk
  • Archaic
1 3.1

A frozen dessert made from milk like ice cream but with less fat

yak's milk
  • Indian
1 8.0

A white liquid from a yak that people drink and use to make cheese

1 2.9

A sweet powder of dried milk and malt that you add to drinks or food

1 5.0

A tall prickly plant with purple flowers and white spots on leaves used in herbal medicine to help the liver

1 2.4

Powdered milk you get by removing water from milk so it lasts a long time

1 7.9

A cold alcoholic drink made with milk, sugar, and spices

milk bar
  • Australian
1 3.3

A small shop that sells milk drinks, ice cream and light snacks

1 1.0

A liquid from cows that people drink or use in cooking

A thick gentle liquid that removes dirt and makeup from the face

1 5.4

A milky white, slightly see-through material used for bowls and vases

1 1.1

Milk with the water removed and left as a powder for storage

1 2.4

A kind of milk with the fat broken into tiny pieces so cream does not rise

1 3.4

One of a child's first teeth that falls out and is replaced by an adult tooth

Milk with some fat removed so it has less fat than whole milk

1 3.5

A thin yellow liquid left after milk is curdled and the solids are removed to make cheese

acidophilus milk
  • Specialized
1 5.8

Milk fermented with helpful bacteria to improve digestion

milk float
  • Archaic
1 3.5

A small vehicle with an open side that delivers milk to homes

1 9.6

A plant with clusters of pea-like flowers that grows in cool regions

milk leg
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A painful swelling in the leg after childbirth caused by a blood clot

1 5.1

A harmless North American snake with red, black, and white bands that looks like a coral snake

1 2.9

A white plant drink made from ground beans and water used instead of cow milk

Powder made from milk with no fat that you mix with water

1 2.8

A drink made from soybeans used instead of cow's milk

certified milk
  • Archaic
1 2.8

A type of milk that health officials check and approve as safe and clean

milk wagon
  • Archaic
1 6.6

A vehicle that delivers milk to people's homes or shops

A face product with a creamy, milk-like texture that removes makeup and oil

1 3.2

The amount of milk a cow or herd produces in a period

milk sickness
  • Specialized
1 9.8

An illness people get from drinking milk from cows that ate a poisonous plant

1 3.5

Milk heated until almost boiling and then cooled

milk intolerance
  • Specialized
1 3.9

A condition when the body cannot digest milk because it cannot break down milk sugar

milk of lime
  • Specialized
1 8.2

A milky liquid used to make things less acidic, for example in tanning and water treatment

milk train
  • Archaic
1 6.5

A train that carries fresh milk from farms to cities

milk-sick
  • Archaic
1 9.9

Sick after eating meat or drinking milk from animals that eat poisonous plants

1 9.9

A tall weed with many leaves that spreads quickly and harms crops

1 9.9

A small plant with clusters of tiny flowers that often grows in dry, open places

glacial milk
  • Specialized
1 8.7

Cloudy meltwater from a glacier that contains fine rock particles

9.9

A European weed with milky sap and small yellow flowers that face the sun

dick milk
  • Offensive
9.9

A rude slang word for the fluid a man releases during sex

alpine milk vetch
  • Specialized
9.9

A small plant with purple flowers that grows every year on high mountain slopes

A sweet cold drink made from milk and ice cream mixed with malt powder

9.9

A harmless tan and brown snake often with red stripes and an arrow spot on its head

milk pox
  • Archaic
9.9

A mild form of smallpox caused by a weaker virus strain

A person who brings milk to homes or shops

A plant that lives for many years with clusters of purple flowers

How Exploitative

to milk
  • Informal
38 7.8
to exploit
289 5.6
to use
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

milk infinitive
milked past
milked past participle
milking present participle
milks third person singular

Etymology

Milk in the sense of 'exploit' comes from the farm picture of drawing milk again and again from an animal; people started using milk to mean taking as much as possible from a thing or situation. That's why to 'milk' something is to use it for every advantage, often for personal gain.