sow one's wild oats

Idioms and Phrases

Behave foolishly, immoderately or promiscuously when young, as in Brad has spent the last couple of years sowing his wild oats, but now he seems ready to settle down . This expression alludes to sowing inferior wild oats instead of good cultivated grain, the verb sowing —that is, “planting seed”—in particular suggesting sexual promiscuity. [Mid-1500s]

Example Sentences

V. be intemperate &c. adj.; indulge, exceed; live well, live high, live high on the fat of the land, live it up, live high on the hog; give a loose to indulgence &c. n.; wallow in voluptuousness &c. n.; plunge into dissipation. revel; rake, live hard, run riot, sow one's wild oats; slake one's appetite, slake one's thirst; swill; pamper.

From Project Gutenberg

V. be intemperate &c. adj.; indulge, exceed; live well, live high, live high on the fat of the land, live it up, live high on the hog; give a loose to indulgence &c. n.; wallow in voluptuousness &c. n.; plunge into dissipation. revel; rake, live hard, run riot, sow one's wild oats; slake one's appetite, slake one's thirst; swill; pamper.

From Project Gutenberg