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

The co-headlining tour has been a cash cow thus far, as the run was the highest-grossing and best-selling trek of September. — Michael Saponara, Billboard, 6 Nov. 2026

The Braves are Exhibit A—the Battery development has been a cash cow for the Braves. — Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 4 Nov. 2026

The company also saw a sequential deceleration in Google Search revenue growth, fueling concerns about AI disruption for its longtime cash cow. — Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 29 Oct. 2026

Even if that number is a gross exaggeration, this is a cash cow business. — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 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