milk cow

American  

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.

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Etymology

Origin of milk cow

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

Then he bought a turning plow, some seed corn, and a milk cow.

From Literature

Dutch, French, Portuguese and Belgian families each kept a few, a dozen, or a couple of hundred milk cows on land that’s now too expensive even to keep chickens.

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From Literature

"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."

From BBC