oats
nounUK /əʊts/ · CA, US /oʊts/
1
A mass of oat plants (genus Avena, especially Avena sativa).
- Oats are in the north corner of the farm.
- Usually oats is last in a rotation and does not get the fertilizer that other feed grains get.
2
Seeds of an oat plant, especially prepared as food.
- Oats is a heart-healthy breakfast food.
- Oats are good for you.
3
Slang Sexual intercourse, sexual satisfaction; semen.
- Must I beat the Bush while you catch the Game ; Sow your wild oates, And mind not her wild notes, Of Alack &c. […] [She] bid me fill, fill, fill Her Sack &c. But twas all in Vaine For I had spilt my graine With a Thwack, &c.a. 1707, George Farquhar, The Works of George Farquhar, published 1988, page 55:
- “[…]he’s young,” he added excusingly. “And I suppose he’s just feeling his oats a bit.” “Well he can save his damned oats up until we get into port—like any other sailor. If I catch him making those sort of passes at any woman who happens to be making a passage with us, Mister Samuals, I’ll disrate him and send him to the fo’c’sle!”1945, Robert Close, Love me Sailor, published 1972, page 62:
1 more example
- Now you been foolin’ with your oats, you been messin’ with your hay, you say, “If you take me back, baby, I’ll do it the other way.”1975, Bruce Jackson, Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me: Narrative Poetry from Black Oral Tradition, page 135:
- Synonyms
- haver
- Derived terms
- feel one's oats, get one's oats, know one's oats, oatsy, proats, sow one's wild oats
- Related terms
- oaten
- Hyponyms
- overnight oats, river oats, rolled oats, sea oats, wild oats