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to milk

to milk

40 7.8
Use a situation to get personal benefit, often unfairly
  • verb
  • /mɪlk/
  • Informal
translation icon : 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

1 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

24 1.8

Milk made by a mother to feed her baby

11 1.9

Milk made from soybeans used instead of regular milk

11 1.0

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

11 3.4

Milk that is not heated to kill germs

11 2.0

Milk with the cream removed so it has little fat

11 1.0

Milk that still has its natural fat, about three percent

A sweet chocolate made with milk and sugar that tastes creamy

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

5 1.5

Milk from a goat used for drinking and making cheese

A sweet thick milk with most water removed and sugar added

4 1.0

A bottle used to hold milk for feeding babies

4 1.0

A liquid from cows that people drink or use in cooking

4 2.8

Milk made from ground almonds and water

4 1.8

Milk that has gone bad and smells and tastes unpleasant

3 1.0

Milk that has less fat than whole milk

3 1.0

A cow kept to give milk for people to drink

Dry milk that you mix with water to make liquid milk

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

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

1 1.0

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

1 3.7

A white color like fresh milk

1 2.2

Milk heated to kill harmful germs so it lasts longer

1 1.4

Milk with most cream removed so it has little fat

1 1.8

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

1 5.0

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

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

1 1.1

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

1 2.4

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

acidophilus milk
  • Specialized
1 5.8

Milk fermented with helpful bacteria to improve digestion

milk bar
  • Australian
1 3.3

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

1 1.6

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

1 7.9

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

milk float
  • Archaic
1 3.5

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

1 5.4

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

milk leg
  • Archaic
1 9.9

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

milk sugar
  • Specialized
1 2.7

A sugar in milk that gives it a slightly sweet taste

1 3.4

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

milk train
  • Archaic
1 6.5

A train that carries fresh milk from farms to cities

1 2.4

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

ice milk
  • Archaic
1 3.1

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

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

yak's milk
  • Indian
1 8.0

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

certified milk
  • Archaic
2.8

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

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

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

9.9

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

milk of lime
  • Specialized
8.2

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

milk pox
  • Archaic
9.9

A mild form of smallpox caused by a weaker virus strain

milk sickness
  • Specialized
9.8

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

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

A person who brings milk to homes or shops

milk intolerance
  • Specialized
3.9

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

5.1

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

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

milk wagon
  • Archaic
6.6

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

3.5

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

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

milk-sick
  • Archaic
9.9

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

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

glacial milk
  • Specialized
8.7

Cloudy meltwater from a glacier that contains fine rock particles

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

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

Milk heated until almost boiling and then cooled

2.8

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

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

9.9

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

How Exploitative

to milk
  • Informal
40 7.8
to exploit
214 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.