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Synonyms

udder

American  
[uhd-er] / ˈʌd ər /

noun

udders plural
  1. a mamma or mammary gland, especially when baggy and with more than one teat, as in cows.


udder British  
/ ˈʌdə /

noun

  1. the large baglike mammary gland of cows, sheep, etc, having two or more teats

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

udder Scientific  
/ ŭdər /
  1. A bag-shaped part of a cow and the females of other ruminants in which milk is formed and stored and from which it is taken in suckling or milking.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of udder

before 1000; Middle English uddre, Old English ūder; cognate with German Euter, Latin ūber, Greek oûthar, Sanskrit ū́dhar

Explanation

A cow's udder is the part of its body that produces milk. When you milk a cow, you empty its udder by squeezing the milk into a bucket. Moo! To milk any four-legged ruminant, you need to carefully squeeze and pull each teat after cleaning the udder. Large dairy farmers use machines to do this, while some smaller ones do it by hand. Female cattle, goats, deer, and sheep all produce milk and have udders, organs in their bodies that contain mammary glands.

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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:

These receptors were found throughout the udder tissue of cattle but were nearly absent in airway tissue.

From Science Daily Jun. 23, 2026

During their trips they met a relative claiming to be the world's oldest man, picked up work in tiny sea ports and drank camel's milk straight from the udder.

From BBC Dec. 29, 2024

Even so, experts say bacteria can still contaminate milk — even when procured from a sparkling-clean udder.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 5, 2024

Just about everything Larson does with a wheel in his hands seems natural to him, but a cow’s udder?

From Seattle Times May 21, 2024

“It looked like her udder was going to explode,” Kendra said.

From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull

Rather than primarily infecting the lungs, H5N1 caused severe infections in the udders while leaving the respiratory system largely unaffected.

From Science Daily Jun. 23, 2026

A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack.

From Salon Dec. 24, 2024

“Cow udders have receptors in common with birds, and they also have receptors in common with humans, where these viruses bind,” Karan said.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 19, 2024

Lab experiments may clarify how a virus that typically causes respiratory disease wound up in cow udders, making it detectable in their milk, and whether other organs are infected.

From Science Magazine Apr. 1, 2024

When a cow’s udders were full, she simply had to stroll into the parlor, where she’d be milked by gentle machines automatically.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

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