dairy
Americannoun
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dairies
plural
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an establishment, as a room, building, or buildings, where milk and cream are kept and butter and cheese are made.
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a shop or company that sells milk, butter, etc.
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the business of a dairy farm, concerned with the production and treatment of milk and cream and the manufacture of butter and cheese.
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milk, or products made from or containing milk; dairy products, as butter and cheese.
He avoids red meat, processed foods, and dairy in his diet.
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(in Jewish dietary law) foods, including all milk products, eggs, fish, vegetables, etc., that may be eaten at a meal in which milk is served, in contrast to meat and meat products, which may not.
adjective
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of or relating to a dairy or a dairy farm.
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relating to or for milk, cream, butter, cheese, etc..
dairy products; the dairy case at a supermarket.
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(in Jewish dietary law) of or relating to dairy, in contrast to meat and meat products.
noun
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a company that supplies milk and milk products
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a shop that sells provisions, esp milk and milk products
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a shop that remains open outside normal trading hours
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a room or building where milk and cream are stored or made into butter and cheese
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(modifier) of or relating to the production of milk and milk products
dairy cattle
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( in combination )
a dairymaid
a dairyman
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food containing milk or milk products
she can't eat dairy
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( as modifier )
dairy produce
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dairy
1250–1300; Middle English daierie, equivalent to daie, deie dairymaid ( Old English dǣge bread maker; cognate with Old Norse deigja; see lady) + -erie -ery
Explanation
A dairy is a farm that specializes in milk and products made from milk. Cheese, yogurt, cream, and ice cream are all things that might be produced at a dairy. While one kind of dairy is a farm where cows or goats are kept and milked, other dairies focus only on making products from milk that farmers sell to them. These items themselves can also be called dairy products. Dairy comes from the Middle English daie, "dairy," which is rooted in the Old English dæge, "kneader of bread," or "female servant."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
New Canadian levies on dairy, molasses and other food items will also hit a big export category, as will Ottawa’s tariffs on agricultural machinery, furniture and household appliances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Canada’s alcohol and dairy industries look “most exposed,” he added.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Ottawa's pushback comes weeks after US President Donald Trump imposed 50-percent tariffs on a similar value of Canadian products, over what Washington deemed as "discriminatory treatment" against US alcohol, automobile and dairy industries.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Reports of milk going to waste are not uncommon during periods of a dairy glut.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Instead of eating kosher, using different table settings for every meal and eating all meat or all dairy dishes, I just ate what I wanted.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
McAfee said the 2006 outbreak opened his eyes to the risk of his product and was part of the reason he developed standards for unpasteurized dairies.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Small dairies say they are already having problems sourcing sheep's milk, which could mean possible shortages of feta going forward.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
The family with the sick cats, he learned, lived less than a mile from an infected dairy, and the cat owner worked delivering hay to local dairies, spending time on infected farms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2025
Eventually, the Nature Conservancy, which was not a party to the suit, agreed to raise money to try to buy out the dairies and ranching operations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025
Lady Berkeley went on similar rounds from manor to manor in order to inspect the dairies.
From Chaucer and His England by G. G. Coulton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
