noun, plural dair·ies for 1–4.
- an establishment, as a room, building, or buildings, where milk and cream are kept and butter and cheese are made.
- a shop or company that sells milk, butter, etc.
- the business of a dairy farm, concerned with the production and treatment of milk and cream and the manufacture of butter and cheese.
- dairy farm.
- milk, or products made from or containing milk; dairy products, as butter and cheese: He avoids red meat, processed foods, and dairy in his diet.
- (in Jewish dietary law) foods, including all milk products, eggs, fish, vegetables, etc., that may be eaten at a meal in which milk is served, in contrast to meat and meat products, which may not.
adjective
- of or relating to a dairy or a dairy farm.
- relating to or for milk, cream, butter, cheese, etc.: dairy products; the dairy case at a supermarket.
- (in Jewish dietary law) of or relating to dairy, in contrast to meat and meat products.
noun plural dairies
- a company that supplies milk and milk products
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- a shop that sells provisions, esp milk and milk products
- NZa shop that remains open outside normal trading hours
- a room or building where milk and cream are stored or made into butter and cheese
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- (modifier)of or relating to the production of milk and milk productsdairy cattle
- (in combination)a dairymaid; a dairyman
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- food containing milk or milk productsshe can’t eat dairy
- (as modifier)dairy produce
late 13c., “building for making butter and cheese; dairy farm,” formed with Anglo-French -erie affixed to Middle English daie (in daie maid “dairymaid”), from Old English dæge “kneader of bread, housekeeper, female servant” (see dey (n.1)). The purely native word was dey-house.