whey

[hwey, wey]

noun

1. a milk serum, separating as liquid from the curd after coagulation, as in cheesemaking.

whey

/ weɪ /

noun

1. the watery liquid that separates from the curd when the milk is clotted, as in making cheese

Other Word Forms

• wheylike adjective
• wheyey adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of whey¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English whei(e), whai(e), wei, Old English hwæg, hwæig, hwǣg, hweg; cognate with Dutch, Low German wei

Word History and Origins

Origin of whey¹

Old English hwǣg; related to Middle Low German wei, heie, Dutch hui

Example Sentences

The protein trend has been especially driven by the expanded availability of protein from whey, typically a by-product of cheese production.

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The brand is best known for making specialty whey butter, which uses the cream that is separated from whey to produce a “mild, nutty, cheesy and richer, fuller flavor” butter, per its official website.

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The health and beauty firm behind the Myprotein brand has said its profits will fall by £13m because of the high price of key ingredient whey.

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He adds: "When I started my career, people used to talk about whey protein just as a supplement to your diet. Now the number of companies putting protein on anything and everything is insane."

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But whey remains one of the largest sources of food loss and waste in Australia's large dairy sector.

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