cash cow

noun

1

: a consistently profitable business, property, or product whose profits are used to finance a company's investments in other areas

2

: one regarded or exploited as a reliable source of money

a singer deemed a cash cow for the record label

Examples of cash cow in a Sentence

The football team was a cash cow for the university.

The movie studio saw the actress as a cash cow.

Recent Examples on the Web

Cook got longtime search cash cow Alphabet to bankroll Apple’s AI, which means bankrolling not only Gemini but, perhaps more important, the huge power costs. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 27 Sep. 2026

The Max is a cash cow for Boeing and is vital for its turnaround efforts. — Kris Van Cleave, CBS News, 27 Sep. 2026

But being away from his family wasn’t easy, especially in an industry that sometimes treats young players as cash cows. — Ben Church, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026

To be sure, Premier League teams are not necessarily cash cows. — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 30 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cash cow

• allow
• avow
• chiao
• endow
• eyebrow
• highbrow
• lanao
• meow
• powwow
• somehow
• anyhow
• carabao