milk float

noun

An electric accumulator battery-driven vehicle (formerly also horse-drawn), designed for the house-to-house delivery of fresh milk; common in Europe, especially the United Kingdom.

Similar
dairy vanfloat
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounmilk float (plural milk floats)

plural milk floats

  1. An electric accumulator battery-driven vehicle (formerly also horse-drawn), designed for the house-to-house delivery of fresh milk; common in Europe, especially the United Kingdom.

    Further clues are provided by milk-floats bearing the legend 'Lord Rayleigh's Dairies: A Family Business', and a number of signs indicating the whereabouts of various departments of Lord Rayleigh's Farms.

    1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 375, about Terling
    1 more example

    Milk floats were flimsy at the front (especially the three-wheelers) but very strong at the back. They were uncomplicated vehicles. Nothing much could go wrong and, when it did go wrong, the vehicles were relatively easy to repair.

    2016, Andrew Ward, No Milk Today: The Vanishing World of the Milkman, Hachette UK, →ISBN

    Synonyms: dairy van, float

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn electric accumulator battery-driven vehicle (formerly also horse-drawn), designed for the house-to-house delivery of fresh milk; common in Europe, especially the United Kingdom.

Similar
dairy vanfloat

Translations

German Milchauto, Milchwagen
  • Milchautomilk float
  • Milchwagenmilk float
Cite this entry
APA

milk float. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/milk%20float

MLA

“milk float.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/milk%20float. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “milk float,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/milk%20float.

Source: milk float on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.