milk
/mɪlk/
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Canada/mɛlk/
milk noun: a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals to nourish their young. From certain animals, especially cows, it is also called dairy milk and is a common food for humans as a beverage or used to produce various dairy products such as butter, cheese, and yogurt.

Noun
milk (countable and uncountable, plural milks)
- A white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals to nourish their young. From certain animals, especially cows, it is also called dairy milk and is a common food for humans as a beverage or used to produce various dairy products such as butter, cheese, and yogurt.
- Skyr is a product made of curdled milk.
- […] there's going to be that much less milk available to cover any other uses. Which means whether it's liquid milk or whether it's [milk that's been turned into] cheese or yogurt, the price gets pulled up right across the board.2007 September 24, Chris Horseman (interviewee), Emily Harris (reporter), “Global Dairy Demand Drives Up Prices”, Morning Edition, National Public Radio
- Synonyms:
- dairy milk, cowmilk, cow's milk
- A white (or whitish) liquid obtained from a vegetable source such as almonds, coconuts, oats, rice, or soy beans.
- Where it does fall down, however, is its nutritional value. While oats are largely a healthy grain to include in your diet, the milk is highly diluted with water, giving it little nutritional value.2018 September 16, Alexandra Spring, “'Milk' mania: why most alternatives aren't great – but camel milk just might be”, in The Guardian
- For environmentally minded consumers, the news is hard to swallow: almond milk is not healthy for the planet and the popular milk substitute is especially hard on bees.2020 January 29, Annette McGivney, “Almonds are out. Dairy is a disaster. So what milk should we drink?”, in The Guardian
- Synonyms:
- m*lk, mylk, non-dairy milk, plant milk
- An individual serving of milk.
- Table three ordered three milks.
- An individual portion of milk, such as found in a creamer, for tea and coffee.
- I take my tea with two milks and two sugars.
- I take my tea with two milk and two sugar.
- A light white color inspired by the color of milk, usually cow's milk.
- The ripe, undischarged spat of an oyster.
- Semen.
Verb
milk (third-person singular simple present milks, present participle milking, simple past and past participle milked)
- To express milk from (a mammal, especially a cow).
- The farmer milked his cows.
- I haue giuen Sucke, and know / How tender 'tis to loue the Babe that milkes me[…]c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- To draw (milk) from the breasts or udder.
- to milk wholesome milk from healthy cows
- Of a dairy cow, to produce milk.
- ‘The boss’s cows must be milking well,’ he said, ‘or has he added to his herd?’1911, ‘Steel Rudd’, The Book of Dan, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, published 1970, page 62
- To secrete (milk) from the breasts or udder.
- The black cow milking white milk, black hen on the nest laying white eggs.1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 84
- To express a liquid from a creature.
- The Australian government has a team that regularly milks various snakes for venom to use creating serums and antivenoms.
- He captures animals for zoos around the world... and milks cobra snakes for their venom.1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer
- To make excessive use of (a particular point in speech or writing, a source of funds, etc.); to exploit; to take advantage of (something).
- When the audience began laughing, the comedian milked the joke for more laughs.
- July 21, 1877, "The Block in the Courts" in The Spectator
They [the lawyers] milk an unfortunate estate as regularly as a dairyman does his stock.
- To give off small gas bubbles during the final part of the charging operation.
- To masturbate a male to ejaculation, especially for the amusement or satisfaction of the masturbator rather than the person masturbated.
- Controlled milking can actually establish and consolidate a mistress’s dominance over her sub rather than diminish it.
- “No, no, no! When a male is in chas-ti-ty,” (Clive always drew out this word and also slavery, emphasizing every syllable to give it extra importance) “he should receive regular milking to maintain good hygiene.” (Yet more kinky behavior cloaked as healthy living.) “Milking helps flush out the...2015, Joyce Snyder, Mistress Pussycat: Adventures with Submissive Men in the World of Femdom, Headpress, →ISBN
- Synonyms:
- masturbate
Proper noun capitalized: Milk
Milk (plural Milks)
- A surname.
- American gay rights activist Harvey Milk was known for keeping his face and name on the front pages of San Francisco’s newspapers.2025 June 4, Andy Rose, “Gay rights icon Harvey Milk’s legacy slighted by decision to rename Navy ship”, in CNN
milk meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
milk in Hindi
- liquid
- दूध dūdh, शीर śīr
milk in Tamil
- liquid
- பால் pāl
- liquid from a vegetable source — see also plant milk
- பால் pāl
- to express milk from mammal
- கற kaṟa
- to draw from the breasts or udder
- கற kaṟa
milk in Marathi
- liquid
- दूध dūdh
milk in Urdu
- liquid
- دُودھ dūdh, شِیر śīr
More languagesFewer languages
- milk in Bengali
- দুধ dudh
- milk in Telugu
- పాలు pālu, క్షీరము kṣīramu, పితుకు pituku
- milk in Malayalam
- പാൽ pāl
- milk in Kannada
- ಹಾಲು hālu
- milk in Punjabi
- ਦੁੱਧ duddha
- milk in Gujarati
- દૂધ dūdh
- milk in Odia
- ଖିର khira, ଦୁଧ dudha
- milk in Sanskrit
- दुग्ध dugdha, क्षीर kṣīra, पायस pāyasa
- milk in Sinhala
- කිරි kiri
- milk in Assamese
- গাখীৰ gakhir, খিৰোৱা khirüa
- milk in Nepali
- दुध dudh, दूध dūdh, दुहुनु duhunu
- milk in Pashto
- شيدې šide, لوشل, لوغل
- milk in Tagalog
- gatas, gatasan, pigas
- milk in Arabic
- حَلِيب ḥalīb, لَبَن laban, حَلَبَ ḥalaba
- milk in Malay
- susu, perah, peras
- milk in Indonesian
- susu
- milk in Persian
- دوشیدن dušidan, دوختن duxtan
- milk in Thai
- น้ำนม náam-nom, นม nom, รีดนม rîit-nom
- milk in Vietnamese
- sữa, vắt sữa
- milk in Myanmar
- နို့ nui.
- Sindhi
- شير šīru
- Dhivehi
- ކިރު kiru
- Kashmiri
- دۄد dọd, द्वद dwad
- Dzongkha
- འོ་མ 'o ma
Examples of milk in a sentence
- In the West it's fairly normal to drink milk in various forms into adulthood.2017, Adam Rutherford, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, The Experiment, →ISBN, page 75:
- Different milks have varying amounts of fats, proteins, and lactose, and arguments abound over the relative merits and possible harms of each.2018, Mark Kurlansky, “Chapter 1: The First Taste of Sweetness”, in Milk!: A 10,000-Year Food Fracas, Bloomsbury, →ISBN:
- She just sat there drinking cup after cup of strong coffee, with two milks and two sugars.2014, Don Eggspuehler, Teachings From Pop, Author House, →ISBN, page 459:
- Five minutes later, he returned with Justin's large coffee with two milk and two sweeteners and a black coffee for himself.2015, Carolyn Arnold, City of Gold: (Mathew Connor Adventure Series Book 1), Hibbert & Stiles Publishing Inc., →ISBN:
Synonyms of milk
Forms of milk
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | milks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | milks |
| present participle | milking |
| past participle | milked |
| past | milked |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Milks |
Origin of milk
From Middle English milk, mylk, melk, mulc, from Old English meolc, meoluc (“milk”), from Proto-West Germanic *meluk (“milk”), from Proto-Germanic *meluks (“milk”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- (“milk, to milk”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian molke (“milk”), Dutch melk (“milk”), Dutch Low Saxon melk (“milk”), German Milch (“milk”), German Low German Melk (“milk”), Yiddish מילך (milkh, “milk”), Danish mælk (“milk”), Faroese and Icelandic mjólk (“milk”), Norn *mjølk (“milk”), Norwegian Bokmål melk, mjølk (“milk”), Norwegian Nynorsk mjølk (“milk”), Swedish mjölk (“milk”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌻𐌿𐌺𐍃 (miluks, “milk”), Greek αμέλγω (amélgo, “to milk”), Albanian mjel (“to milk”), Latvian malks, Lithuanian malkas, Belarusian малако́ (malakó, “milk”), Bulgarian мля́ко (mljáko, “milk”), Czech mléko, Macedonian мле́ко (mléko, “milk”), Polish mleko (“milk”), Russian and Ukrainian молоко́ (molokó, “milk”), Serbo-Croatian mlijéko (“milk”), Slovak mlieko (“milk”), Slovene mlẹ́ko (“milk”), Welsh blith, Tocharian A malke.
From Middle English milken, from Old English melcan, from Proto-Germanic *melkaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ-, the same root as the noun. Compare Dutch and German melken, Danish malke, Norwegian mjølke, also Latin mulgeō (“to milk”), Ancient Greek ἀμέλγω (amélgō, “to milk”), Albanian mjel (“to milk”), Russian молоко́ (molokó), Lithuanian mélžti, Tocharian A mālk-.
Words formed from milk
- acid of milk
- acidophilus milk
- African milk barrel
- African milk tree
- age like milk
- almondmilk
- almond milk
- almond-milk
- Amazon milk frog
- antimilk
- Aval Milk
- baby milk
- bloody milk cap
- boob milk
- bread and milk
- breakfast milk
- breast milk
- buttermilk
- cashew milk
- cat milk
- Channel Island milk
- chocolate milk
- choco milk
- coconut milk
- coffee milk
- condensed milk
- cowmilk
- cow milk
- cow's milk
- crop milk
- cry over spilt milk
- cry over spilled milk
- dick milk
- dog milk
- don't cry over spilled milk
- don't teach your grandmother how to milk ducks
- dried milk
- dysphoric milk ejection reflex
- evaporated milk
- filled milk
- first milk
- flavored milk
- flavoured milk
- flax milk
- fore-milk
- foremilk
- full cream milk
- glacial milk
- glacier milk
- goatmilk
- goat milk
- goat's milk
- goat's-milk cheese
- goat's milk cheese
- golden milk
- gold-top milk
- green milk
- hazelnut milk
- hemp milk
- hindmilk
Phrases with milk
- 1% milk
- 2% milk
- ice milk
- man milk
- milk bar
- milk can
- milk cap
- milk cow
- Milk Day
- milk fat
- milk jug
- milk leg
158 more phrasesFewer phrases
- milk man
- milk men
- milk pan
- milk pea
- milk run
- milk tea
- nut milk
- oat milk
- raw milk
- soy milk
- UHT milk
- homo milk
- milk acid
- milk bars
- milk cans
- milk caps
- milk card
- milk cows
- milk door
- milk duct
- milk food
- milk jugs
- milk knot
- milk line
- milk moon
- milk pans
- milk roll
- milk runs
- milk skin
- milk spot
- milk teas
- milk tusk
- milk wool
- moon milk
- rice milk
- skim milk
- sour milk
- cows' milk
- dairy milk
- human milk
- milk bread
- milk camel
- milk cards
- milk churn
- milk crate
- milk crust
- milk ducts
- milk fever
- milk fiber
- milk fibre
- milk float
- milk foods
- milk fruit
- milk glass
- milk gravy
- milk hedge
- milk house
- milk knots
- milk lines
- milk maker
- milk moons
- milk punch
- milk rolls
- milk round
- milk scall
- milk shake
- milk snail
- milk snake
- milk spots
- milk stout
- milk sugar
- milk sweet
- milk teeth
- milk toast
- milk token
- milk tooth
- milk train
- milk truck
- milk tusks
- milk vetch
- moose milk
- plant milk
- poppy milk
- share milk
- sheep milk
- spilt milk
- sweet milk
- swill milk
- whole milk
- goats' milk
- litmus milk
- malted milk
- mare's milk
- milk bottle
- milk breads
- milk camels
- milk carton
- milk churns
- milk crates
- milk crusts
- milk fibers
- milk fibres
- milk floats
- milk fruits
- milk houses
- milk makers
- milk mirror
- milk mother
- milk powder
- milk rounds
- milk shakes
- milk sister
- milk snakes
- milk stouts
- milk sweets
- milk toasts
- milk tokens
- milk tongue
- milk trains
- milk trucks
- peanut milk
- soured milk
- wolf's milk
- hold my milk
- mild as milk
- milk abscess
- milk bottles
- milk brother
- milk cartons
- milk drinker
- milk factory
- milk glasses
- milk mirrors
- milk monitor
- milk mothers
- milk of lime
- milk parsley
- milk powders
- milk pudding
- milk sibling
- milk sisters
- milk thistle
- milk vetches
- milk voucher
- pale as milk
- skimmed milk
- tiger's milk
- witch's milk
- hot milk cake
- milk brothers
- milk drinkers
- milk monitors
- milk mustache
- milk of roses
- milk puddings
- milk replacer
- milk saucepan
- milk siblings
Words that rhyme with milk
Questions about milk
- What does milk mean?
- Milk means a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals to nourish their young. From certain animals, especially cows, it is also called dairy milk and is a common food for humans as a beverage or used to produce various dairy products such as butter, cheese, and yogurt.
- What is milk in Hindi?
- Milk in Hindi is दूध (dūdh), शीर (śīr). See Milk meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use milk in a sentence?
- In the West it's fairly normal to drink milk in various forms into adulthood.
- What part of speech is milk?
- Milk can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce milk?
- Milk is pronounced /mɪlk/.
- What is the plural of milk?
- The plural of milk is milks.
Words near milk in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: milk (page history and authors); Milk (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-milk.ogg, en-us-milk.ogg.
Cite this entry: “milk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/milk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
