oat

American  

[oht] / oʊt /

noun

1. a cereal grass, Avena sativa, cultivated for its edible seed.

2. (used with a singular or plural verb) Usually oats. the seed of this plant, used as a food for humans and animals.

3. any of several plants of the same genus, as the wild oat.

4. Archaic. a musical pipe made of an oat straw.

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idioms

1. sow one's wild oats. wild oat.

2. feel one's oats,

   1. to feel frisky or lively.

   2. to be aware of and use one's importance or power.

oat British  

/ əʊt /

noun

1. an erect annual grass, Avena sativa, grown in temperate regions for its edible seed

2. (usually plural) the seeds or fruits of this grass

3. any of various other grasses of the genus Avena, such as the wild oat

4. poetic a flute made from an oat straw

5. informal

   1. to feel exuberant

   2. to feel self-important

6. slang to have sexual intercourse

7. to indulge in adventure or promiscuity during youth

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Other Word Forms

• oatlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of oat

before 900; Middle English ote, Old English āte

Example Sentences

In total, 32 women and men completed the two day oat based intervention.

From Science Daily • Feb. 25, 2026

“You can achieve a gorgeous slightly umami and sweet flavor by blending steamed or canned sweet corn kernels with oat milk and straining it,” she explains.

From Salon • Jan. 17, 2026

I like drinking espresso by itself, Val likes oat milk lattes and Lila would get a steamed milk because she wants to feel like a grown-up.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 2, 2026

All milk substitute drinks, such as soya, almond or oat drinks, were previously exempt from the sugar tax if they contained 120mg of calcium per 100ml.

From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025

“Hard bread, hard cheese, oat cakes, salt cod, salt beef, salt mutton, and a skin of sweet wine to rinse all that salt out of my mouth. I will not die of hunger.”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin