English▸ noun a cereal plant cultivated chiefly in cool climates and widely used for animal feed as well as human consumption.
▪ (oats) the grain yielded by this, used as food.
– PHRASES
feel one's oats North American informal
feel lively and energetic:
engage in a period of wild or irresponsible behavior while young, especially involving many casual sexual relationships:
feel one's oats North American informal
feel lively and energetic:
she's in the pink and feeling her oats.
sow one's wild oats engage in a period of wild or irresponsible behavior while young, especially involving many casual sexual relationships:
he sowed his wild oats before settling down.
– ORIGIN Old English āte, plural ātan, of unknown origin. Unlike other names of cereals (such as wheat, barley, etc.), oat is not a mass noun and may originally have denoted the individual grain, which may imply that oats were eaten in grains and not as meal.