cash cow

American  

noun

Informal.

1. any business venture, operation, or product that is a dependable source of income or profit.

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cash cow British  

noun

1. a product, acquisition, etc, that produces a steady flow of cash, esp one with a well-known brand name commanding a high market share

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cash cow Idioms  

1. A dependable source of profit, as in The small-appliance division is this company's cash cow. Although this precise term dates only from about 1970, milch cow was used in exactly the same way from 1601.

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Example Sentences

The property is clearly no one’s home but a cash cow, turned over every few days or weeks for new arrivals.

From The Wall Street Journal

The company’s advertising arm has long been a lucrative cash cow that is still managing double-digit growth rates.

From The Wall Street Journal

To protect the government’s cash cow, politicians avoided meddling in PdVSA, which was run by highly trained engineers and other professionals.

From The Wall Street Journal

"This is their cash cow. They're not going to let it go easily."

From BBC

The bulk of Samsung’s profits once came from smartphones, but the semiconductor business has now come back as its major cash cow, accounting for more than half of its earnings recently.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• moneymaker