oat

noun

ˈōt 

often attributive

1

a

: any of several grasses (genus Avena)

especially : a widely cultivated cereal grass (A. sativa)

b

: a crop or plot of the oat

also : the seed of an oat

—usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction

2

archaic : a reed instrument made of an oat straw

Illustration of oat

• oat 1a

Phrases

feel one's oats

: to act in a newly self-confident and often self-important manner

Examples of oat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There are only four oat bowls and four soup options to choose from, though. —PCMAG, 15 Apr. 2024

There are two different types of fiber: soluble, which is found in foods like oat bran, barley, and fruits, and insoluble, found in foods like whole wheat and many veggies. —Marilyn La Jeunesse, Glamour, 12 Apr. 2024

Social media users say the oat drink can help people lose 40 pounds in two months. —Korin Miller, Health, 30 Mar. 2024

The complaint listed retail prices for oat and soy milk at between 6 and 7 cents per fluid ounce, and almond milk at 4 to 7 cents, for comparison. —Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024

Exclusively consuming oats—and no other food—would likely put participants at a significant caloric deficit, which can and does lead to weight loss. —Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 5 Apr. 2024

Sweet treats for Imbolc include rosemary oat cake, rosemary and lemon curd tarts, blackberry scones, bread pudding, chamomile and lemon custard tarts and jam tarts. —Jenna Prestininzi, Detroit Free Press, 26 Jan. 2024

The quick-cooking variety is made from flattening oat groat bits. —Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 21 Mar. 2024

Commercial oat flour is made by milling oat groats, which are oat berries with their husks removed. —Shilpa Uskokovic, Bon Appétit, 15 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ote "the grain of the oat plant, the plant itself," going back to Old English āte (weak feminine noun), of uncertain origin

Note: Old English āte has been compared with regional Dutch aate, oote "wild oats" (West and Zeeland Flanders), West Frisian and Groningen Dutch oat. (These contrast with Dutch haver, denoting cultivated oats, a reflex of the Common Germanic word for the grain.) Michiel de Vaan, in an addenda to the online etymologiebank.nl, believes that the Flanders words are semantic extensions of regional aat "food," of general Germanic origin (see eat entry 2), though this hypothesis would scarcely explain the Old English word. Jan de Vries (Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek, Brill, 1971) hypothesizes that the Low Country words may have been borrowed from English.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing oat

• oat cell
• oat grass
• oat milk
• wild oat

Kids Definition

oat

noun

ˈōt 

: a grain that is widely grown for its long loose clusters of seeds which are used for human food and for livestock feed

oaten

ˈōt-ᵊn

adjective