OAT -
n. 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.
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.
oaten adj. [OE ate, pl. atan, of unkn. orig.]
