Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The watery part of milk that separates from the curds, as in the process of making cheese.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An obsolete form of quey.
  • noun The serum of milk: that part of milk which remains fluid after the proteids have been coagulated by rennet as in cheese-making, or by an acid as in the natural souring of milk.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The serum, or watery part, of milk, separated from the more thick or coagulable part, esp. in the process of making cheese.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained in the process of making cheese.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun watery part of milk produced when raw milk sours and coagulates
  • noun the serum or watery part of milk that is separated from the curd in making cheese

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English hwæg.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English wheye, whei, from Old English hwǣġ, hweġ, from Proto-Germanic *hwajan (cf. West Frisian waai, Dutch wei), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kʷei 'to pile up, build' (cf. Old Church Slavonic чинъ (činŭ, "order"), Ancient Greek ποιέω (poiéō, "to pile up, make"), Sanskrit káya 'body').

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Examples

  • If I forget to feed it for several weeks, it will separate and the whey is a not very attractive grey liquid but it still works once fed and I haven't killed it yet.

    Yeast we forget! 2006

  • It starts out the same way as any other yogurt, with milk and an active yogurt culture, but before packaging the yogurt is strained to remove some the the excess whey from the yogurt and make it thicker.

    Baking Bites » Print » What is Greek yogurt? 2008

  • Earlier attempts to make ethanol from waste weren't practical because the waste, whey, is a highly-sought commodity due to its protein -- a popular additive in both human and animal food products.

    Using Lactose to Make Biofuel Steve Carper 2008

  • And speaking of whey, he punned, whey is another current waste product.

    Using Lactose to Make Biofuel Steve Carper 2008

  • It starts out the same way as any other yogurt, with milk and an active yogurt culture, but before packaging the yogurt is strained to remove some the the excess whey from the yogurt and make it thicker.

    What is Greek yogurt? | Baking Bites 2008

  • It's true that most cheese comes from the protein-heavy curds after the lactose-laden whey is drained off.

    Cheese and Lactose Steve Carper 2007

  • If you are lactose intolerant, whey is one of the worst ingredients to encounter on a label.

    Answers to Questions from Readers, part 10 Steve Carper 2007

  • Most commercial whey is dried, meaning that it is roughly 50-75% pure lactose and the rest mostly whey protein.

    Archive 2007-09-01 Steve Carper 2007

  • If you aren't sure what all the names for milk products are (and many people don't know that whey is mostly lactose) you should check the Dairy Facts section of my web site and take a look at the various pages there.

    Archive 2007-08-01 Steve Carper 2007

  • If you aren't sure what all the names for milk products are (and many people don't know that whey is mostly lactose) you should check the Dairy Facts section of my web site and take a look at the various pages there.

    Answers to Questions from Readers, part 8 Steve Carper 2007

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