1 N‑COUNT If someone has a milk round , they work as a milkman, going from house to house delivering milk. [BRIT ] □ Milk rounds are threatened as customers switch to buying from supermarkets.
2 N‑SING The milk round is an event that happens once a year when people from large companies visit colleges and universities and interview students who are interested in working for them. [BRIT ] □ He obtained his first job through the milk round.
milk|shake /m I lkʃe I k/ (milkshakes ) also milk shake N‑VAR A milkshake is a cold drink made by mixing milk with a flavouring or fruit, and sometimes ice cream. □ …a strawberry milkshake.
mi lk tooth (milk teeth ) N‑COUNT [usu pl] Your milk teeth are the first teeth that grow in your mouth, which later fall out and are replaced by a second set.
mi lk whi te COLOUR You can use milk white to describe things that are a milky white colour. [LITERARY ] □ Mist was rising, and trees and shrubs began to disappear in a milk-white haze.
milky /m I lki/ (milkier , milkiest )
1 ADJ If you describe something as milky , you mean that it is pale white in colour. You can describe other colours as milky when they are very pale. □ A milky mist filled the valley.
2 ADJ Drinks or food that are milky contain a lot of milk. □ …a large bowl of milky coffee.
Mi lky Wa y N‑PROPER The Milky Way is the pale strip of light consisting of many stars that you can see stretched across the sky at night.
mill ◆◇◇ /m I l/ (mills , milling , milled )
1 N‑COUNT A mill is a building in which grain is crushed to make flour.
2 N‑COUNT A mill is a small device used for grinding something such as coffee beans or pepper into powder. □ …a pepper mill.
3 N‑COUNT A mill is a factory used for making and processing materials such as steel, wool, or cotton. □ …a steel mill. □ …a textile mill.
4 VERB To mill something such as wheat or pepper means to grind it in a mill. □ [V n] They mill 1000 tonnes of flour a day in every Australian state. □ [V -ed] …freshly milled black pepper.
5 → see also milling , rolling mill , run-of-the-mill , watermill
6 grist to the mill → see grist
▸ mill around in BRIT, also use mill about PHRASAL VERB When a crowd of people mill around or mill about , they move around within a particular place or area, so that the movement of the whole crowd looks very confused. □ [V P ] Quite a few people were milling about, but nothing was happening. □ [V P n] Dozens of people milled around Charing Cross Road and Denmark Street.
mil|len|nium /m I le niəm/ (millenniums or millennia )
1 N‑COUNT A millennium is a period of one thousand years, especially one which begins and ends with a year ending in '000', for example the period from the year 1000 to the year 2000. [FORMAL ]
2 N‑SING Many people refer to the year 2000 as the Millennium . □ …the eve of the Millennium.
mil|ler /m I lə r / (millers ) N‑COUNT A miller is a person who owns or operates a mill in which grain is crushed to make flour.
mil|let /m I l I t/ (millets ) N‑VAR Millet is a cereal crop that is grown for its seeds or for hay.
PREFIX milli-
forms nouns that refer to units that are a thousand times smaller. For example, a millimetre is a thousandth of a meter.
mil|li|gram /m I l I græm/ (milligrams ) in BRIT, also use milligramme N‑COUNT [num N ] A milligram is a unit of weight that is equal to a thousandth of a gramme. □ [+ of ] …0.5 milligrams of mercury.
mil|li|li|tre /m I l I liːtə r / (millilitres ) in AM, use milliliter N‑COUNT [num N ] A millilitre is a unit of volume for liquids and gases that is equal to a thousandth of a litre. □ [+ of ] …100 millilitres of blood.
mil|li|metre /m I l I miːtə r / (millimetres ) in AM, use millimeter N‑COUNT [num N ] A millimetre is a metric unit of length that is equal to a tenth of a centimetre or a thousandth of a metre. □ …a tiny little transparent pill, about 20 millimetres long.
mil|li|ner /m I l I nə r / (milliners ) N‑COUNT A milliner is a person whose job is making or selling women's hats.
mil|li|nery /m I l I nəri, [AM ] -neri/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Millinery is used to refer to women's hats. [FORMAL ] □ …her aunt's modest millinery shop.
mill|ing /m I l I ŋ/ ADJ [ADJ n] The people in a milling crowd move around within a particular place or area, so that the movement of the whole crowd looks very confused. □ They moved purposefully through the milling crowd.
mil|lion ◆◆◆ /m I liən/ (millions ) The plural form is million after a number, or after a word or expression referring to a number, such as 'several' or 'a few'. 1 NUM A million or one million is the number 1,000,000. □ Up to five million people a year visit the county. □ Profits for 1999 topped £100 million.
2 QUANT If you talk about millions of people or things, you mean that there is a very large number of them but you do not know or do not want to say exactly how many. □ [+ of ] The programme was viewed on television in millions of homes. USAGE million
Don’t add ‘-s’ to the word million
when you put another number in front of it. Don’t say, for example, ‘