1 a a cereal plant, Avena sativa, cultivated in cool climates. b (in pl.) the grain yielded by this, used as food.
2 any other cereal of the genus Avena, esp. the wild oat, A. fatua.
3 poet. the oat-stem used as a musical pipe by shepherds etc., usu. in pastoral or bucolic poetry.
4 (in pl.) sl. sexual gratification.
Phrases and idioms:
feel one's oats colloq.
1 be lively.
2 US feel self-important. oat-grass any of various grasses, esp. of the genus Arrhenatherum. off one's oats colloq. not hungry. sow one's oats (or wild oats) indulge in youthful excess or promiscuity.
Derivatives:
oaten adj.
Etymology: OE ate, pl. atan, of unkn. orig.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.