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.
Universities have used graduate loans as a cash cow to finance expensive master’s degree programs of dubious value, while many schools have foisted tens of thousands of dollars in parent loans on low-income families. — Preston Cooper, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025 Brooks quickly secured key roles within the cousins’ operations, including serving as the chief investment and financial officer at Winthrop Intelligence, their cash cow. — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 26 Mar. 2025 Maybe that is down to the latter’s hyper-inflated ecosystem, its player sales that feel laughably untethered from real life or just an unspoken exhaustion with things like compassion and not treating people like cash cows. — Megan Feringa, The Athletic, 3 Feb. 2025 Ready or Not was a notable cash cow for Searchlight, made for $6M and minting over $57M at the global box office. — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 21 Apr. 2025 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

Rhymes for cash cow

See All Rhymes for cash cow

Browse Nearby Words

cash contract
cash cow
cash credit
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cash cow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cash%20cow. Accessed 13 May. 2025.

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