milks

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular present of milk.

   Each morning she milks the herd by hand.

   The dairy worker milks dozens of cows on his shift.

   Note

   The present-tense form for a single subject (he, she, it, the farmer), and it is spelled exactly like the plural noun. It usually takes an object. That can be an animal (she milks the goats) or, figuratively, whatever is being exploited (he milks every joke). The words around it tell the two forms apart: a subject before it marks the verb, while oat or soy before it marks the noun.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of milk.

   The store stocks a wide range of milks, from soy to cashew.

   Various plant milks froth differently when steamed.

   Note

   A plural for a word that usually refuses one. Milk is normally a mass noun, so the -s form signals kinds or helpings rather than quantity. Shoppers compare almond, oat, rice and soy milks, and an informal order can count servings: two milks, please. For an amount, keep the mass noun: a lot of milk, not a lot of milks.

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