cash cow

a highly profitable business, product or service

TRANSLATION

cash cow = der Goldesel --- GOOGLE INDEX cash cow: approximately 4,800,000 Google hits

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

3D has proved to be a CASH COW for film studios looking to squeeze extra revenue from older titles.

(Financial Times)

---
For years, the printing business has been a CASH COW for Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, and Lexmark International.

(BusinessWeek magazine)

Did you
know?

cash cow
idiom

- a business, product, or service that makes a large profit, often used to make money to support other business activities

---
Etymology: Cash stems from the French "caisse" and Italian "cassa," meaning a box for money. The secondary sense of the money eventually became the sole meaning. Cow derived from the Proto-Germanic "kwon" and eventually from the Old English "cu."

At first glance, the expression cash cow sounds like a bovine piggy bank. In reality, it's more like the goose that laid the golden eggs in Aesop's Fables.

Investopedia defines a cash cow as a business, product or asset that produces consistent cash flow over its lifespan once it has been acquired and paid off. It can also refer to the division within a company that has a large market share within a mature industry. Unlike the farmer and his wife who kill the goose to try to get more of the golden eggs faster, most businesses are smart enough not to slaughter a cash cow that is still producing.

A cash cow requires little investment capital and provides positive cash flows each year that can be allocated to other divisions within the corporation. These cash generators may also use their money to buy back shares on the market or pay dividends to shareholders.

This term is a metaphor for a dairy cow that produces milk over the course of its life and requires little maintenance. A dairy cow is an example of a cash cow, as after the initial capital outlay has been paid off, the animal continues to produce milk for many years to come.

---
SYNONYMS

meal ticket, golden goose, money-maker

---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation

"Smart phone apps have become cash cows for the technology industry."

More Word Quizzes: