as in exploited
to take unfair advantage of
unscrupulous people trying to milk the welfare system for all it's worth
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Recent Examples of milked
Netflix has milked so much out of that now-instantly recognizable sound.
—
Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025
Monster has, itself, been the target of criticism from people like the Menendezes and the families of Dahmer’s victims, who feel their traumas have been milked for sensation rather than sublimated into high art.
—Judy Berman, Time, 6 Oct. 2025
That’s when cows need to be milked next; if no one’s there, a cow could start to leak milk, to develop an infection.
—Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2025
Host Jimmy Kimmel milked the moment, delaying confirming that their answer was correct for a very tense minute.
—Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 26 Sep. 2025
Games don’t feel milked, overanalyzed, or — as can often be the case with Generation Kickstarter — overtly romanticized.
—Matt Gardner, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
For a while, the Klussendorfs milked their cows on a neighboring farm that had been empty for years.
—Rick Barrett, jsonline.com, 11 Aug. 2025
But strangely, when the researchers milked the well cows with contaminated equipment—the way the virus was assumed to be spreading on farms—the healthy cows did not fall ill.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2025
Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025
Monster has, itself, been the target of criticism from people like the Menendezes and the families of Dahmer’s victims, who feel their traumas have been milked for sensation rather than sublimated into high art.
—Judy Berman, Time, 6 Oct. 2025
That’s when cows need to be milked next; if no one’s there, a cow could start to leak milk, to develop an infection.
—Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2025
Host Jimmy Kimmel milked the moment, delaying confirming that their answer was correct for a very tense minute.
—Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 26 Sep. 2025
Games don’t feel milked, overanalyzed, or — as can often be the case with Generation Kickstarter — overtly romanticized.
—Matt Gardner, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
For a while, the Klussendorfs milked their cows on a neighboring farm that had been empty for years.
—Rick Barrett, jsonline.com, 11 Aug. 2025
But strangely, when the researchers milked the well cows with contaminated equipment—the way the virus was assumed to be spreading on farms—the healthy cows did not fall ill.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for milked
Verb
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Even more concerning, one of them is already being exploited by attackers.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Mar. 2026
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After Europeans arrived, the islands were exploited for the military, ranching, drilling, and fishing.—
Betsy Andrews,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The two victims told police that the suspects had used antisemitic language during the incident but police did not further specify what was said.—
Caelyn Pender,
Mercury News,
11 Mar. 2026
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The study demonstrates a new level of miniaturization and scalability for optical beam-combining hardware used in high-power laser systems.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Subscribers’ oral argument Arguing for the subscribers, attorney Amanda Bonn of Susman Godfrey maintained that Gutierrez abused his discretion.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
11 Mar. 2026
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During that time, court officials said Gillespie abused his position for personal gain.—
JT Moodee Lockman,
CBS News,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The economists hope that, like some past technologies, AI could be leveraged in ways to improve human performance in existing jobs while also creating all sorts of new jobs for people to do.—
Greg Rosalsky,
NPR,
10 Mar. 2026
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On the brand-building front, Atkin leveraged her experience backstage from fashion shows and on red carpets with a visual-first approach with Ouai.—
James Manso,
Footwear News,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Easter changes date every year, and the blooms on sale are carefully manipulated to bloom on time.—
Becky Wern,
Florida Times-Union,
7 Mar. 2026
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In the lab setting, various atmospheric variables can be precisely manipulated to closely understand the phenomenon.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Milked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/milked. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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