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

see also feel one's oats

Examples of oat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That score is reserved for unsweetened, steel-cut or rolled oats. —Angelica Bottaro, Verywell Health, 6 Jan. 2026

At the core of the formula is prebiotic oat, which supports barrier function by helping skin retain moisture and stay balanced through daily cleansing. —Jailynn Taylor, Allure, 1 Jan. 2026

Try the fruit in a banana-blueberry smoothie or a banana-oat smoothie. —Kirsten Nunez, Martha Stewart, 30 Dec. 2025

Neutral hues led the pack — oat, black and olive — but Western accessories, camouflage and oversize eyewear kept the uniform from feeling strictly technical. —Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 29 Dec. 2025

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

Rhymes for oat

• bloat
• boat
• choate
• coat
• cote
• dote
• float
• gloat
• goat
• groat
• haute
• moat

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