oat Definition

oat
noun

1. A cereal and type of grass, thought to be native to the Mediterranean region and now cultivated mainly in cool moist temperate regions as a food crop.

Form: oats (usually)
2. The grains of this plant, used to make porridge, oatcakes, etc, and also as a feedstuff for livestock.

Form: oats
3. Any of various other grasses related to or resembling this plant.

Idiom: feel one's oats

To feel lively or exuberant.

To feel self-important.

Idiom: get one's oats (have one's oats)

slang
To have sexual intercourse.

Idiom: off one's oats

colloq
With no appetite; off one's food.

Idiom: sow one's oats (sow one's wild oats)

colloq
To indulge in excessive drinking or promiscuity, etc during youth and before settling down.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon ate.