They were 'cowed' into silence by threats. [=they did not complain, publicly say anything, etc., because they had been threatened]
They'll be arguing about this 'till the cows come home'.
The football team was a 'cash cow' for the university.
(..) Shape wise. I'm part cat, part elephant, part dolphin. Dolphin? You got to remember. When Riley was , animals were all her age. The cow goes moo. The horse goes neigh. It's all the people talked back then. Yeah, yeah. I guess that true. (..)2015 Inside Out