cash cow

noun

1
: a consistently profitable business, property, or product whose profits are used to finance a company's investments in other areas
2
: one regarded or exploited as a reliable source of money
a singer deemed a cash cow for the record label

Examples of cash cow in a Sentence

The football team was a cash cow for the university. The movie studio saw the actress as a cash cow.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Microsoft’s focus remained largely on milking its cash cows, Windows and Office. Steven Levy, WIRED, 21 Nov. 2024 Yet the company has been a cash cow for at least one former dairy farmer: CEO and former Congressman Devin Nunes. Zach Everson, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024 And the morning shows, with their lifestyle focus, are still the cash cows that help to subsidize other less lucrative news programs. Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Sep. 2024 The bottom line is cutting these jobs wouldn’t make a huge dent, football is the cash cow, and athletic directors don’t want to risk losing any competitive edges there. Seth Emerson, The Athletic, 5 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for cash cow 

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of cash cow was in 1972

Dictionary Entries Near cash cow

Cite this Entry

“Cash cow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cash%20cow. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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