milking
milking — verb
- milkingpresent simple I / you / we / they
- milkings3rd person singular
- milkinging-ing form
- milkingedpast simple
1. the action of squeezing or pulling milk out of a cow, goat, sheep, or other fema
the action of squeezing or pulling milk out of a cow, goat, sheep, or other female farm animal, either by hand or with a machine.
Liam learned how to do the milking on his uncle's dairy farm in Vermont.
noun-style use: 'do the milking' for the daily farm task
Apinya was milking the goats by hand when the power went out in the barn.
progressive: milking + [animal]
The dairy uses a modern machine for milking two hundred cows every morning.
Obi gets up at four o'clock every day to start milking the herd before sunrise.
- dairying
broader — refers to the whole business of producing milk and milk products, not just the act of extraction
文法句型
milking + [animal]
用法筆記
Often used as a gerund describing the farm task itself, as in 'do the milking' or 'finish the milking'. The cow, goat, sheep, or person doing the work is normally named.
常見錯誤
2. the act of squeezing every possible benefit — money, sympathy, attention, or fac
the act of squeezing every possible benefit — money, sympathy, attention, or facts — out of a person, organisation, or situation, usually in a greedy or sneaky way that other people would not approve of.
Nila accused her ex-business partner of milking the company for personal expenses.
milking + [organisation] + for + [money]
Reporters spent weeks milking the witness for fresh details about the bank robbery.
milking + [person] + for + [information]
The actor was clearly milking the standing ovation, bowing again and again to the audience.
Christopher kept milking the joke long after his friends had stopped laughing.
Critics said the studio was milking the franchise by releasing yet another sequel nobody asked for.
- exploiting
more neutral and formal; covers using a resource fully, with or without unfairness
- bleeding (someone) dry
stronger and more emotional; implies the victim has been left with nothing
- fleecing
narrower — focuses on cheating someone out of money, not on extracting information or attention
文法句型
milking + [person/thing] + for + [money/information]
milking + [situation]
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this figurative use is informal and carries a clearly negative tone — the speaker disapproves of how much is being taken. Subject is usually a person or company; object is often a situation, opportunity, joke, fan base, or victim, rather than a literal animal.
常見錯誤
milking — noun
1. the daily job on a dairy farm of taking milk out of cows, goats, or sheep, usual
the daily job on a dairy farm of taking milk out of cows, goats, or sheep, usually done early in the morning and again in the evening.
Élise finishes the morning milking before the children leave for school.
common pattern: 'the [time] milking'
On rainy days, the milking takes almost an hour longer than usual.
subject: 'the milking' as the named task
Tomás helps his grandfather with the milking every weekend during summer vacation.
After the milking, the cows return to the field beside the river.
- the milk round
British, dated — refers more to the delivery route after milking, not the extraction itself
文法句型
the milking
用法筆記
Almost always appears with 'the' and refers to the routine farm chore as a whole. Distinguish from the verb's gerund form by the article: 'the milking' (this noun, a named task) versus 'milking the goats' (verb, the action).
常見錯誤
milking — adjective
- milkingpositive
- more milkingcomparative
- most milkingsuperlative
1. used before a noun to describe a female farm animal that is currently producing
used before a noun to describe a female farm animal that is currently producing milk for people to collect, as opposed to one that is too young, too old, or pregnant.
Each milking cow on the Watanabe farm produces about thirty litres a day.
attributive: milking + [cow/goat/sheep]
Mira keeps her milking goats in a small barn next to the kitchen garden.
common collocation: milking goats / milking sheep
The auction listed twelve milking cows and three young heifers from a single farm in Wisconsin.
A healthy milking ewe can feed two lambs and still give enough milk for cheese.
- dry
of a cow: not currently producing milk, often between calves
文法句型
milking + [animal noun]
用法筆記
Strictly attributive — used before the animal noun, never after 'be'. Distinguish from 'dairy', which describes the whole industry or product (a 'dairy cow' may or may not currently be in milk; a 'milking cow' is one that is producing right now).