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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Both of those vulnerabilities were actively exploited in the wild.—
Scharon Harding,
ArsTechnica,
30 Apr. 2026
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Workers put their bodies, livelihoods and lives on the line to oppose employers and governments that exploited physical laborers through inhumane working conditions.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Two snakes, believed to be cobras, were used in the show, officials said.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
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Today, the same tools are being used by state actors for geopolitical propaganda.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Jackson and his estate have denied that the pop star abused children.—
Samantha Masunaga,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
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The mothers of the victims said Chasing Horse betrayed their trust and abused sacred traditions.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Many hospitals, airports and utility companies hold surplus land that can be leveraged to help address the affordable housing crisis.—
Ryan von Weller,
The Orlando Sentinel,
26 Apr. 2026
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The county expended $19 million of the funds to complete 53 projects protecting more than 1,900 acres and leveraged over $34 million in partnership funds.—
Mary Divine,
Twin Cities,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Gas prices can be manipulated by war, the market or the discretion of how much oil companies want to refine.—
Kaitlyn Schallhorn,
Oc Register,
4 May 2026
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And getting back to the Jewish donors who supposedly manipulated Ferguson’s efforts to block mid-cycle congressional districting.—
Howard Libit,
Baltimore Sun,
3 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Milked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/milked. Accessed 7 May. 2026.
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