milk float

English

Noun

milk float (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.
    • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 375, about Terling:
      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.
    • 2016, Andrew Ward, No Milk Today: The Vanishing World of the Milkman‎[1], Hachette UK, →ISBN:
      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.

Synonyms

  • dairy van
  • float (short form)

Derived terms

  • electric milk float
  • horse-drawn milk float

Translations

Further reading

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