Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

wild oat

See more synonyms for wild oat on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. any uncultivated species of Avena, especially a common weedy grass, A. fatua, resembling the cultivated oat.
  2. a hardy plant, Uvularia sessilifolia, of the lily family, of eastern North America, having deep green, hairy leaves and greenish-yellow, tubular flowers.
Show More
Idioms
  1. sow one's wild oats, to have a youthful fling at reckless and indiscreet behavior, especially to be promiscuous before marriage.
Show More

Origin of wild oat

First recorded in 1490–1500
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

trespasssinoffendfailmisconductroughhousedeviatetransgresserrstraycheatlapsebackslidemisbehavefallwanderrebel
British Dictionary definitions for sow wild oats

wild oat

noun
  1. any of several temperate annual grasses of the genus Avena, esp A. fatua, that grow as weeds and have long bristles on their flower spikes
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
sow wild oats in Culture

sow wild oats

To engage in youthful indiscretions, usually sexual liaisons: “Paul asked his father if he had sowed his wild oats before getting married.”

Show More
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.