MILK


Meaning of MILK in English

I. milk 1 S2 W3 /mɪlk/ BrE AmE noun

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: meolc , milc ]

1 . [uncountable] a white liquid produced by cows or goats that is drunk by people:

a bottle of milk

Would you like some milk in your tea?

a pint of semi-skimmed milk

2 . [uncountable] a white liquid produced by female animals and women for feeding their babies:

mothers who believe that breast milk is best for their babies

The tiny fox cubs drink nothing but their mother’s milk.

3 . [uncountable] a liquid or juice produced by particular plants, especially the ↑ coconut

4 . [uncountable and countable] a thin white liquid used to clean or protect skin SYN lotion :

a mild facial cleansing milk

5 . the milk of human kindness literary the kind and sympathetic behaviour of most ordinary people

⇨ ↑ evaporated milk , ⇨ cry over spilt milk at ↑ cry 1 (3), ⇨ land of milk and honey at ↑ land 1 (8)

• • •

COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs

▪ drink milk

Drinking milk keeps your bones strong.

▪ have/take milk (=drink milk in your tea or coffee)

Do you take milk in your coffee?

▪ pour milk

She poured some milk into a saucepan.

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + milk

▪ sour (=not fresh)

Milk turns sour very quickly in hot weather.

▪ fresh

She made me drink a glass of fresh milk.

▪ cold

I can only drink milk if it’s really cold.

▪ hot/warm

Can I have a cup of warm milk please?

▪ pasteurized (=milk that has been heated to kill harmful bacteria)

a type of cheese made from pasteurized milk

▪ homogenized (=milk that has had the cream mixed into the milk)

Most milk sold in stores is homogenized milk.

▪ whole milk ( also full-fat milk British English ) (=milk that has not had any fat taken out)

The ice cream is made from whole milk.

▪ semi-skimmed milk British English ( also low-fat milk ) (=milk that has had some of the fat taken out)

Adults should drink semi-skimmed milk rather than whole milk.

▪ skimmed milk British English , skim milk/nonfat milk American English (=milk that has had all the fat taken out)

a bowl of cereal with skim milk

▪ long-life milk British English (=specially treated milk that you can keep for a long time)

I’ve got a carton of long-life milk in the cupboard.

▪ powdered milk ( also dry milk American English )

Powdered milk is useful for camping trips.

▪ baby/formula milk (=milk in powder form for babies)

Many babies are fed formula milk.

■ milk + NOUN

▪ milk bottle

Put the empty milk bottles into the crates.

▪ milk carton (=a plastic or cardboard container in which milk is sold)

containers such as milk cartons and soap powder boxes

▪ milk jug

She put the butter, jam and milk jug on the table.

▪ milk powder

hot water mixed with milk powder

■ phrases

▪ a glass of milk

Would you like a glass of milk?

▪ a bottle of milk

I accidentally knocked over a bottle of milk.

▪ a pint of milk

I need to buy a pint of milk.

II. milk 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]

1 . informal to get as much money or as many advantages as you can from a situation, in a very determined and sometimes dishonest way

milk somebody/something for something

Their landlord regularly milks them for extra money by claiming for damage to his property.

He seems to be milking the incident for all it’s worth (=getting as much from it as possible) .

2 . to take milk from a cow or goat:

I helped to milk the cows.

—milking noun [uncountable] :

They had risen at 5.30 to do the milking.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.