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
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
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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Decades before the internet, Gunness exploited men’s loneliness — luring them to her hog farm with the promise of romance and sending many to a shallow grave beneath the Indiana soil.—
Christina Coulter,
PEOPLE,
11 Oct. 2025
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Anything a user does on Max—and everything Max can collect, such as geolocation data, contacts, photos, and audio—could presumably be accessed and exploited by the state.—
Justin Sherman,
The Atlantic,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Aguilera said its unclear how often boaters illegally dump sewage into the water in Fort Lauderale, though pumpout vessels have been well-used in other parts of Florida.—
Amanda Rosa,
Miami Herald,
11 Oct. 2025
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Caution should be used when in or near the water.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Ray tells a graphic story about his revenge on a priest who abused him.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
7 Oct. 2025
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According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ed later told investigators that his father had abused both him and his older sibling.—
Christopher Rudolph,
PEOPLE,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Identifying dust devils on Mars The new paper, published in Science Advances, details how Bickel’s team leveraged deep learning to analyze Mars’ wind conditions.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Oct. 2025
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Spotify hasn’t only been used to juice up Fifth Season’s musical knowledge as data from the music platform was also leveraged when compiling the top territories to target.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The codes of Versace are very strong and Vitale manipulated the familiar in a playful way.—
Joelle Diderich,
Footwear News,
8 Oct. 2025
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But those sensors can be manipulated.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Milked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/milked. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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