🗓️ Idiom: Cash Cow (n)
💬 Meaning
- A business, product, or investment that consistently generates a large amount of profit over time.
- It requires little effort or cost to maintain but provides reliable and steady income.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Their old software system is still a cash cow for the company.
- The coffee franchise became a cash cow after expanding nationwide.
- Even though it’s outdated, that product line remains a cash cow.
🏛️ Origin
The idiom comes from farming, where a dairy cow provides milk daily with minimal ongoing effort. In business, a “cash cow” refers to a reliable source of profit that requires little additional investment.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
For years, the streaming service has been the company’s __________ cow.
Answer
cash
2. Choose the correct meaning of “cash cow”:
A) A risky business venture
B) A consistent source of profit
C) A heavily indebted company
Answer
B) A consistent source of profit
3. Rewrite the sentence using: Cash Cow
“Their smartphone app is earning steady profits with little extra effort.”
Answer
Their smartphone app is a cash cow.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
👉 Finance and Accounting Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
