milk cow

noun

1. a cow that is raised for its milk rather than for beef.

2. Informal.,  a source of easily gained income; profitable venture.

   The new subsidiary turns out to be a real milk cow.

Word History and Origins

Origin of milk cow¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

The latter film is one of Keaton’s lesser-known but still brilliantly limned stone-faced satires, in this case involving cowpokes and its star’s tender feelings for a milk cow.

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“It’s a piece of our family history. Kids, look at how they used to milk cows.…”

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"We obviously still need people who'll milk cows and drive tractors but the industry is much more than that - drone operators, people with very specialist technical skills, data analysts are required too."

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What our milk cows taught me on that mountain farm, Hardin elevated into a principle that explains much of what ails modern society.

Read more on Salon

In the “dairy parlors” that commercial farms use to milk cows, floors are often cleaned using high-pressure water sprayers, which could aerosolize the virus, he notes.

Read more on Science Magazine