from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Milk \Milk\ (m[i^]lk), n. [AS. meoluc, meoloc, meolc, milc; akin
to OFries. meloc, D. melk, G. milch, OHG. miluh, Icel.
mj[=o]lk, Sw. mj["o]lk, Dan. melk, Goth. miluks, G. melken to
milk, OHG. melchan, Lith. milszti, L. mulgere, Gr.
'ame`lgein. [root]107. Cf. {Milch}, {Emulsion}, {Milt} soft
roe of fishes.]
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1. (Physiol.) A white fluid secreted by the mammary glands of
female mammals for the nourishment of their young,
consisting of minute globules of fat suspended in a
solution of casein, albumin, milk sugar, and inorganic
salts. "White as morne milk." --Chaucer.
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2. (Bot.) A kind of juice or sap, usually white in color,
found in certain plants; latex. See {Latex}.
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3. An emulsion made by bruising seeds; as, the milk of
almonds, produced by pounding almonds with sugar and
water.
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4. (Zool.) The ripe, undischarged spat of an oyster.
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{Condensed milk}. See under {Condense}, v. t.
{Milk crust} (Med.), vesicular eczema occurring on the face
and scalp of nursing infants. See {Eczema}.
{Milk fever}.
(a) (Med.) A fever which accompanies or precedes the first
lactation. It is usually transitory.
(b) (Vet. Surg.) A form puerperal peritonitis in cattle;
also, a variety of meningitis occurring in cows after
calving.
{Milk glass}, glass having a milky appearance.
{Milk knot} (Med.), a hard lump forming in the breast of a
nursing woman, due to obstruction to the flow of milk and
congestion of the mammary glands.
{Milk leg} (Med.), a swollen condition of the leg, usually in
puerperal women, caused by an inflammation of veins, and
characterized by a white appearance occasioned by an
accumulation of serum and sometimes of pus in the cellular
tissue.
{Milk meats}, food made from milk, as butter and cheese.
[Obs.] --Bailey.
{Milk mirror}. Same as {Escutcheon}, 2.
{Milk molar} (Anat.), one of the deciduous molar teeth which
are shed and replaced by the premolars.
{Milk of lime} (Chem.), a watery emulsion of calcium hydrate,
produced by macerating quicklime in water.
{Milk parsley} (Bot.), an umbelliferous plant ({Peucedanum
palustre}) of Europe and Asia, having a milky juice.
{Milk pea} (Bot.), a genus ({Galactia}) of leguminous and,
usually, twining plants.
{Milk sickness} (Med.), See {milk sickness} in the
vocabulary.
{Milk snake} (Zool.), a harmless American snake ({Ophibolus
triangulus}, or {Ophibolus eximius}). It is variously
marked with white, gray, and red. Called also {milk
adder}, {chicken snake}, {house snake}, etc.
{Milk sugar}. (Physiol. Chem.) See {Lactose}, and {Sugar of
milk} (below).
{Milk thistle} (Bot.), an esculent European thistle ({Silybum
marianum}), having the veins of its leaves of a milky
whiteness.
{Milk thrush}. (Med.) See {Thrush}.
{Milk tooth} (Anat.), one of the temporary first set of teeth
in young mammals; in man there are twenty.
{Milk tree} (Bot.), a tree yielding a milky juice, as the cow
tree of South America ({Brosimum Galactodendron}), and the
{Euphorbia balsamifera} of the Canaries, the milk of both
of which is wholesome food.
{Milk vessel} (Bot.), a special cell in the inner bark of a
plant, or a series of cells, in which the milky juice is
contained. See {Latex}.
{Rock milk}. See {Agaric mineral}, under {Agaric}.
{Sugar of milk}. The sugar characteristic of milk; a hard
white crystalline slightly sweet substance obtained by
evaporation of the whey of milk. It is used in pellets and
powder as a vehicle for homeopathic medicines, and as an
article of diet. See {Lactose}.
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