oat
Americannoun
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a cereal grass, Avena sativa, cultivated for its edible seed.
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(used with a singular or plural verb) Usually oats. the seed of this plant, used as a food for humans and animals.
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any of several plants of the same genus, as the wild oat.
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Archaic. a musical pipe made of an oat straw.
idioms
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sow one's wild oats. wild oat.
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feel one's oats,
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to feel frisky or lively.
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to be aware of and use one's importance or power.
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noun
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an erect annual grass, Avena sativa, grown in temperate regions for its edible seed
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(usually plural) the seeds or fruits of this grass
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any of various other grasses of the genus Avena, such as the wild oat
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poetic a flute made from an oat straw
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informal
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to feel exuberant
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to feel self-important
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slang to have sexual intercourse
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to indulge in adventure or promiscuity during youth
Other Word Forms
- oatlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of oat
before 900; Middle English ote, Old English āte
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They creaked through rolling hills dotted with apple orchards stripped bare, past fields of brown earth awaiting the planting of oats and wheat.
From Literature
Compared with a control group that also reduced calories but did not eat oats, those on the oat based plan saw a markedly greater improvement in their cholesterol levels.
From Science Daily
I would ask him to take me into the storehouse and let me choose as much as I wanted: honey, oats, apples, onions, carrots.
From Literature
Guernsey based nutritional therapist Carol Champion advised people with coeliac disease to eat more foods that were "naturally gluten free" such as potatoes, rice, oats and sweet potatoes, rather than buying too many ultra-processed foods.
From BBC
Vegans and vegetarians have popularized plant-based milk alternatives — almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, cashew, hemp, coconut; if it grows, it may have a milk version.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
