animated oat

American  

noun

1. an oat, Avena sterilis, of the Mediterranean region, having spikelets that twist or move when exposed to sudden moisture, due to the hygroscopic action of the awns.

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Example Sentences

He looked at the bronze figure of the "Dying Stork," which was placed below the picture, and started to see that it moved also, and with a strange, unnatural, galvanic sort of movement, like the "animated oat," which moves when placed on the hand after being warmed a moment in the mouth.

From Project Gutenberg