Meaning & use
cash cow
Last updated
UK/ˈkæʃ kaʊ/
US/ˈkæʃ kaʊ/
Meaning
nouncountableinformalbusiness
A business, product or service that reliably brings in steady profits, often funding other ventures.
Grammar: Used with a: the shop became a cash cow.
Patterns
- be a cash cow for someone
- turn something into a cash cow
The old software became a cash cow for the company.
Their coffee shop is the cash cow that funds the new projects.
Tourists turned the small museum into a cash cow.
Word forms
| plural | cash cows |
|---|
Common combinations
- a reliable cash cow
- Their subscription service is a reliable cash cow.
- milk a cash cow
- The firm milked its cash cow for years.
- turn into a cash cow
- They turned the app into a cash cow.
- become a cash cow
- The film franchise became a cash cow.
Synonyms and how they differ
- moneymaker
- It is more general and simply means something that earns money, with no hint of steady funding.
- gold mine
- It suggests exceptional or surprising profits, rather than reliable steady ones.
- golden goose
- It stresses a valuable source that could be ruined if mistreated.
Opposites
money pit
Word family
Commonly confused: cash cow or gold mine?
cash cow vs gold mine
A gold mine is a surprisingly rich source of profit, while a cash cow is a dependable and steady earner.
Practice
A company calls its old product line a cash cow. What does it mean?
Choose one answer.
A cash cow produces dependable profit. The second option describes the opposite, a money pit.
Make it your own
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