milch cow

IPA/ˈmɪltʃ kaʊ/
IPA/ˈmɪltʃ kaʊ/

milch cow — noun

1. a person, company, or product that people keep making easy money from, treating

1.nounC2
Definition

a person, company, or product that people keep making easy money from, treating it as a reliable source of cash.

Example

Many drivers feel the city uses speeding tickets as a milch cow.

use [X] as a milch cow — an exploited revenue source

Pedro slowly turned the little corner bakery into the family's milch cow.

turn [X] into a milch cow

Common collocations
  • treat as a milch cow
  • use as a milch cow
  • a milch cow for
Synonyms
  • cash cow

    more common, especially in American English; usually neutral about a steadily profitable product

  • gold mine

    stresses a rich, plentiful source rather than something repeatedly milked

  • money-spinner

    British informal; a thing that earns a lot, without the exploited nuance

Antonyms
  • money pit

    something that keeps draining money instead of earning it

Grammar Patterns

a milch cow for someone

treat/use something as a milch cow

Usage Note

Usually disapproving: the speaker implies the money source is being squeezed unfairly, most often in 'treat/use X as a milch cow'.

Common Mistakes

The app is a milk cow for the company.
The app is a milch cow for the company.
the fixed phrase keeps the old spelling 'milch', not 'milk'.

2. a cow that a farmer keeps in order to produce milk rather than meat.

2.nounC2
Definition

a cow that a farmer keeps in order to produce milk rather than meat.

Example

Each morning, Christopher led three milch cows from the barn to pasture.

literal sense: a cow kept for its milk

The old farmer sold his last milch cow when the dairy closed.

Synonyms
  • dairy cow

    the ordinary modern term for a cow kept for milk

  • milker

    informal; a cow that gives milk

Usage Note

Now dated: modern English usually says 'dairy cow'; here 'milch' is an old word meaning 'giving milk'.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four describe a source of money, but the feeling differs. A milch cow is usually disapproving: it suggests someone or something being squeezed for cash again and again, often unfairly, and the term is chiefly British. A cash cow is more neutral and far more common, especially in American English; it normally praises a product or business that brings in steady profit, like a hit film for a studio. A gold mine stresses how rich and plentiful the source is, not the repeated 'milking'. A money-spinner is British and informal, simply meaning something that earns a lot of money. Compare: 'The charity became a milch cow for its directors' (critical) versus 'The phone line is the firm's cash cow' (approving).

milch cow ↗cash cowgold minemoney-spinner

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Milch is an old English word meaning 'giving milk', from the same Germanic root as the word milk. A milch cow first meant simply a cow that was being milked. Because such a cow could be milked over and over, the phrase later grew a figurative sense: any person or thing that others can keep 'milking' for money.