udder

American  

[uhd-er] / ˈʌd ər /

noun

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

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udder British  

/ ˈʌdə /

noun

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

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udder Scientific  

/ ŭd′ər /

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.

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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.

Example Sentences

In an unassuming building in Stratford, east London, British start-up Better Dairy is making cheese that has never seen an udder, which it argues tastes like the real thing.

From BBC • Jul. 12, 2025

He said he monitors each cow at his farms with a device that sits in a cow’s udder and sends real-time information about the animal’s body temperature, milk acidity, etc.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 29, 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

Some experimental vaccines against bacterial udder infections have performed poorly, Falkenberg says, suggesting that is a difficult hurdle.

From Science Magazine • May 20, 2024

The cow’s udder was bloated, nearly as badly as the first time they had milked her.

From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull

Related Words

• bosom
• chest
• nipple