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
Growing up on a farm in Wabasha, Minnesota, one of 18 children, Bea milked cows and attended a one-room schoolhouse during the great depression.
—
Irene Gonzalez, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
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
Irene Gonzalez, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for milked
Verb
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He’s beaten by thugs with a crowbar for an unfortunate outburst, exploited by neighbors in the council estate and arrested, all because people don’t understand Tourette syndrome.—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
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With that growth, gaps in oversight have been exploited by a small number of bad actors delivering substandard, and in many cases no, care.—
Tom Koutsoumpas,
Oc Register,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Henry Kissinger used that argument to explain why academic feuds are so bitter.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Apr. 2026
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Copper wiring, which was used for communications for decades, is one of the first things being replaced.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN Money,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The woman who spoke to the FBI about Staley also alleged she’d been abused by Leon Black, a billionaire and former CEO of Apollo Global Management.—
Curt Devine,
CNN Money,
22 Apr. 2026
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Judge Nancy Abudu — appointed by Joe Biden — said the state and federal government failed to show that the district court abused its power.—
Claire Heddles,
Miami Herald,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The criminal complaint says Mafi leveraged her contacts within the government to settle a property dispute over an inheritance from her late father and to get her son out of his mandatory military service.—
Sonja Sharp,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Apr. 2026
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Pricing, routing, and supply disruptions are leveraged to shape political outcomes, test alliances, and fund parallel financial systems.—
Gaurav Srivastava,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The price of Celsius crypto would go up, but it was being manipulated by those in charge, all as a way to get ordinary citizens to invest.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
20 Apr. 2026
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Figures show crime was already on the decline before, although those figures are being investigated after claims arose against local police that they may have been manipulated.—
Gary Fields,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Milked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/milked. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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