milk bar
1
3.3
- noun
- Australian
:
bar de leche
- After school, we often grab a snack at the local milk bar, where they make delicious milkshakes.
Examples
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He worked at a milk bar that also served hot food.
Fiction book (2001) -
And I think the most fun part about creating at Milk Bar is keeping it really simple.
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Have you tried the milk bar across the street?
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I like to watch her arrive at the milk bar.
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Yeah, there's a note in the milk bar window.
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I've gotta get across to the milk bar.
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Phuong is at the milk bar.
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Having her milkshake at the milk bar, across from the Continental.
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Burwood, at that time, was a growing suburb of Sydney, a place of parks, corner milk bars, and open-air fruiters.
Fiction book (2001) -
I was completing the last part of the journey, the portion which my mother and grandmother could not accomplish, walking up the poorly paved road which connects the Stairway to the township of Katoomba, passing familiar milk bars and pie shops, then finally the green and gold cottage which years ago was sold.
Fiction book (2001)
Synonyms
10
1.3
A small place where people buy and eat sandwiches and drinks
5
1.3
A small café where people buy coffee and light snacks
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a snack bar or small shop selling milk drinks, ice cream, and light refreshments' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'milk' (dairy drink) with 'bar' (a place where drinks/refreshments are served): it denotes a bar for milk-related items. This noun+noun composition is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Polish bar mleczny) and follows standard compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
The noun milk bar comes from small shops that sold milk and milk drinks at a service bar or counter, a place you might picture with milkshakes and ice cream. That's why it means 'a small shop that sells milk drinks and light food'.