milk

noun

/mɪlk/

[uncountable]Idioms

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the white liquid produced by cows, goats and some other animals as food for their young and used as a drink by humans
- a pint/litre of milk
- a bottle/carton of milk
- She drank a glass of cool frothy milk.
- fresh/dried/powdered milk
- Do you take milk in your tea?
- milk products (= butter, cheese, etc.)
- milk production/prices
- I am allergic to cow's milk.
- (British English) full-fat/semi-skimmed/skimmed milk (= milk with none/some/most of the fat removed)
- (North American English) Shall I get skim milk or 2%?
see also buttermilk, condensed milk, dry milk, evaporated milk, malted milk, moose milk, powdered milk, skimmed milk
Extra Examples
- Don't drink the milk—it's off.
- Dried milk keeps better than fluid milk.
- The milk has gone off/turned sour.
- They've stopped delivering milk in our area.
- a calcium-fortified milk which provides more calcium than regular milk
- Dairy cows produce more milk when listening to music.
- Why is there no milk in the fridge?
Topics Drinksa1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- fresh
- curdled
- sour
- …
… of milk
- litre/liter
- pint
- bottle
- …
verb + milk
- drink
- have
- take
- …
milk + verb
- be off
- go bad
- go off
- …
milk + noun
- powder
- beverage
- drink
- …
See full entry
the white liquid that is produced by women and female mammals for feeding their babies
- breast milk
- Mammals rely on mother's milk for nutrition and immune protection.
- She expressed some milk so her husband could do the night feeding.
see also mother’s milk
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- fresh
- curdled
- sour
- …
… of milk
- litre/liter
- pint
- bottle
- …
verb + milk
- drink
- have
- take
- …
milk + verb
- be off
- go bad
- go off
- …
milk + noun
- powder
- beverage
- drink
- …
See full entry
enlarge image
the white juice of some plants and trees
- The recipe uses fresh coconut milk and lime juice.
- Serve with a glass of sweet, creamy almond milk.
see also soya milk
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- fresh
- curdled
- sour
- …
… of milk
- litre/liter
- pint
- bottle
- …
verb + milk
- drink
- have
- take
- …
milk + verb
- be off
- go bad
- go off
- …
milk + noun
- powder
- beverage
- drink
- …
See full entry

Word OriginOld English milc, milcian, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch melk and German Milch, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin mulgere and Greek amelgein ‘to milk’.

Idioms

cry over spilt milk (British English)

(US English cry over spilled milk)

to waste time worrying about something that has happened that you cannot do anything about
- As the saying goes—it's no use crying over spilt milk.

the land of milk and honey

a place where life is pleasant and easy and people are very happy
- He dreamed of emigrating to Canada—the land of milk and honey.

the milk of human kindness

(literary) kind behaviour, considered to be natural to humans

milk

verb

/mɪlk/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they milk	/mɪlk/ /mɪlk/
he / she / it milks	/mɪlks/ /mɪlks/
past simple milked	/mɪlkt/ /mɪlkt/
past participle milked	/mɪlkt/ /mɪlkt/
-ing form milking	/ˈmɪlkɪŋ/ /ˈmɪlkɪŋ/

Idioms

jump to other results

milk something to take milk from a cow, goat, etc.Topics Farmingb2
(disapproving) to obtain as much money, advantage, etc. for yourself as you can from a particular situation, especially in a dishonest way
- milk A (from B) She's milked a small fortune from the company over the years.
- milk B (of A) She's milked the company of a small fortune.
- I know he's had a hard time lately, but he's certainly milking it for all it's worth (= using it as an excuse to do things that people would normally object to).
Extra Examples
- He had milked her for information.
- These large firms milk the government of subsidies.

Word OriginOld English milc, milcian, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch melk and German Milch, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin mulgere and Greek amelgein ‘to milk’.

Idioms

milk/suck somebody/something dry

to get from somebody/something all the money, help, information, etc. they have, usually giving nothing in return
- By earning millions from racing and giving pennies back, the bookmakers are milking the sport dry.