as in exploiting
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 milking
Netflix milking the hype around its biggest show in new, previously unannounced ways?
—
Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 5 Jan. 2026
There’s a contrarian view of World Cup pricing that places FIFA as the good guy, milking America’s absurd private wealth and redistributing billions of dollars to poorer countries around the world to further football development.
—Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
Haul a steaming cup outside where, milking fall weather, the Potholder is welcoming diners on its dog-friendly patio.
—Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 23 Oct. 2025
There were multiple ways for Texas State to end the game, including milking the clock by running up all three downs and kicking a field goal.
—Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 4 Oct. 2025
But even with Mizzou being able to do what it’s been doing — manhandling the trenches and milking the clock — the results were somewhat spoiled.
—Quentin Corpuel, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2025
Most teams walked the ball upcourt on almost every possession and rarely, if ever, looked to create pace while milking the shot clock and playing slowdown basketball.
—Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Aug. 2025
The Painters have been milking cows in Tioga County, Pennsylvania since the 1940s.
—Andrew Watman, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Helping a young farmer get started Forty miles north of Medford, in Catawba, Linda Ceylor has a dairy farm milking 40 cows that are also kept on pasture.
—Rick Barrett, jsonline.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 5 Jan. 2026
There’s a contrarian view of World Cup pricing that places FIFA as the good guy, milking America’s absurd private wealth and redistributing billions of dollars to poorer countries around the world to further football development.
—Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
Haul a steaming cup outside where, milking fall weather, the Potholder is welcoming diners on its dog-friendly patio.
—Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 23 Oct. 2025
There were multiple ways for Texas State to end the game, including milking the clock by running up all three downs and kicking a field goal.
—Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 4 Oct. 2025
But even with Mizzou being able to do what it’s been doing — manhandling the trenches and milking the clock — the results were somewhat spoiled.
—Quentin Corpuel, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2025
Most teams walked the ball upcourt on almost every possession and rarely, if ever, looked to create pace while milking the shot clock and playing slowdown basketball.
—Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Aug. 2025
The Painters have been milking cows in Tioga County, Pennsylvania since the 1940s.
—Andrew Watman, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Helping a young farmer get started Forty miles north of Medford, in Catawba, Linda Ceylor has a dairy farm milking 40 cows that are also kept on pasture.
—Rick Barrett, jsonline.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for milking
Verb
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Amidst the ongoing privacy issues surrounding door cameras and the backlash over social media giants exploiting user data to train their own models, today’s robots invite both passive and active observers into our homes and leave our data exposed to bad actors.—
Jason Corso,
Fortune,
6 Jan. 2026
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For years, the debate around this issue has been quietly deadlocked between the forces for common sense reform to dramatically lower the cost of construction, and personal injury lawyers who reap increasingly large windfalls by exploiting this law.—
Elizabeth Crowley,
New York Daily News,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Though Amelia is a particularly viral example, using AI to generate content was already a popular pastime for the online right in Britain.—
Issy Ronald,
CNN Money,
31 Jan. 2026
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Those who bought the checks would then attempt to fraudulently cash them, according to federal prosecutors, using a variety of methods.—
Joseph Buczek,
CBS News,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The Labor Department inspector general's office has interviewed staff in connection with the investigation, which followed a complaint that Chavez-DeRemer was having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate and abusing her office.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
24 Jan. 2026
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Benny isn’t abusing his daughter.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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As opposed to going and auctioning off and leveraging our future on a hope.—
Nick Friedell,
New York Times,
30 Jan. 2026
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By leveraging knowledge already embedded in large video models, Cosmos Policy reduces the amount of robot-specific data needed to learn reliable control behaviors.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Using Henry's good nature … by lying to him, by manipulating him.—
Natalie Morales,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
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Uhlaender accused the Canadian team and its coach, Joe Cecchini, of intentionally withdrawing the athletes, deliberately manipulating the field to benefit one of their own sliders’ bids for qualification.—
Don Riddell,
CNN Money,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Milking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/milking. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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