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
Strong financial performance continued for Steak ‘n Shake into 2016 as the brand became Biglari’s cash cow, generating more than $250 million in total operational earnings and funding Biglari Holdings’ expansion into other business ventures.
—
Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2025
But what, more importantly, that branding strategy did was uplift the cash cow.
—Megan Poinski, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
While the early-morning NFL Network telecasts delivered an audience that was just 20% the size of the big Sunday national windows on CBS and Fox, Roger Goodell spends roughly 80% of his time dreaming up ways to turn the overseas package into yet another cash cow for the league and its 32 owners.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 5 Sep. 2025
And in Google’s case, its cash cow — online search advertising — is already in jeopardy, and ironically, because of Google itself.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cash cow
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.
Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2025
But what, more importantly, that branding strategy did was uplift the cash cow.
—Megan Poinski, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
While the early-morning NFL Network telecasts delivered an audience that was just 20% the size of the big Sunday national windows on CBS and Fox, Roger Goodell spends roughly 80% of his time dreaming up ways to turn the overseas package into yet another cash cow for the league and its 32 owners.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 5 Sep. 2025
And in Google’s case, its cash cow — online search advertising — is already in jeopardy, and ironically, because of Google itself.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cash cow
Cite this Entry
“Cash cow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cash%20cow. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share