milk
verbEtymology 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-.
7 senses
- 1To express milk from (a mammal, especially a cow).
- 2To draw (milk) from the breasts or udder.
- 3To secrete (milk) from the breasts or udder.
- 4To express a liquid from a creature.
- 5To make excessive use of (a particular point in speech…
- 6To give off small gas bubbles during the final part of…
- 7To masturbate a male to ejaculation, especially for the…
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, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vii], page 135, column 2:
To draw (milk) from the breasts or udder.
- to milk wholesome milk from healthy cows
Rare 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:
Figuratively 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.
1 more example
- If nothing else, José Mourinho can be grateful there was no mutiny. He still heard his name being sung and at the final whistle Old Trafford was not too unkind on the manager or his players. He milked it, too, marching over to the Stretford End to thank them for their generosity.2018 August 27, Daniel Taylor, “Lucas Moura double for Spurs deepens gloom at Manchester United”, in The Guardian (London):
Of an electrical storage battery To give off small gas bubbles during the final part of the charging operation.
BDSM, Lifestyle, Sexuality Vulgar 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 toxins which accumulate within the prostate gland of a chaste male.”2015, Joyce Snyder, Mistress Pussycat: Adventures with Submissive Men in the World of Femdom, Headpress, →ISBN:
- Derived terms
- milkable, milker, milking, milking machine, milking table, milk the clock, remilk, unmilkable, unmilked
- Related terms
- dairy, dairy product, MILC, Milk