To feel one's oats

To feel one's oats
Oat Oat ([=o]t), n.; pl. {Oats} ([=o]ts). [OE. ote, ate, AS. [=a]ta, akin to Fries. oat. Of uncertain origin.] 1. (Bot.) A well-known cereal grass ({Avena sativa}), and its edible grain, used as food and fodder; -- commonly used in the plural and in a collective sense. [1913 Webster]

2. A musical pipe made of oat straw. [Obs.] --Milton. [1913 Webster]

{Animated oats} or {Animal oats} (Bot.), A grass ({Avena sterilis}) much like oats, but with a long spirally twisted awn which coils and uncoils with changes of moisture, and thus gives the grains an apparently automatic motion.

{Oat fowl} (Zo["o]l.), the snow bunting; -- so called from its feeding on oats. [Prov. Eng.]

{Oat grass} (Bot.), the name of several grasses more or less resembling oats, as {Danthonia spicata}, {Danthonia sericea}, and {Arrhenatherum avenaceum}, all common in parts of the United States.

{To feel one's oats}, (a) to be conceited or self-important. [Slang] (b) to feel lively and energetic.

{To sow one's wild oats}, to indulge in youthful dissipation. --Thackeray.

{Wild oats} (Bot.), a grass ({Avena fatua}) much resembling oats, and by some persons supposed to be the original of cultivated oats. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • feel one's oats — {v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To feel frisky or playful; be eager and excited. * /The horses were feeling their oats./ * /When they first got to camp, the boys were feeling their oats./ 2. To act in a proud or important way. * /The new gardener was… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • feel one's oats — {v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To feel frisky or playful; be eager and excited. * /The horses were feeling their oats./ * /When they first got to camp, the boys were feeling their oats./ 2. To act in a proud or important way. * /The new gardener was… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • feel one's oats N. Amer. — feel one s oats N. Amer. informal feel lively and energetic. → oat …   English new terms dictionary

  • feel one's oats — ► feel one s oats N. Amer. informal feel lively and energetic. Main Entry: ↑oat …   English terms dictionary

  • feel one's oats — phrasal 1. of a horse : to act spirited or frisky 2. a. : to be actively exuberant the children were feeling their oats and running madly around the house b. : to act in a newly self confident and often self important manner * * * feel one s oats …   Useful english dictionary

  • feel one's oats — idi feel one s oats a) to feel or show giddy animation b) to have a strong sense of one s own power …   From formal English to slang

  • feel one's oats — verb a) To feel energetic or frisky; to behave in a vigorous or bold manner. In fact, precisely as a rash, restive horse is said to feel his oats, so Turkey felt his coat. b) To feel important; to be empowered …   Wiktionary

  • feel\ one's\ oats — v. phr. slang 1. To feel frisky or playful; be eager and excited. The horses were feeling their oats. When they first got to camp, the boys were feeling their oats. 2. To act in a proud or important way. The new gardener was feeling his oats and… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • feel one's oats — phrasal to act in a newly self confident and often self important manner …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Oats — Oat Oat ([=o]t), n.; pl. {Oats} ([=o]ts). [OE. ote, ate, AS. [=a]ta, akin to Fries. oat. Of uncertain origin.] 1. (Bot.) A well known cereal grass ({Avena sativa}), and its edible grain, used as food and fodder; commonly used in the plural and in …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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