wild oat

American  

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.

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idioms

1. sow one's wild oats, to have a youthful fling at reckless and indiscreet behavior, especially to be promiscuous before marriage.

wild oat British  

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

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Etymology

Origin of wild oat

First recorded in 1490–1500

Example Sentences

The previous winter’s meager rainfall contributed to the seedling mortality, as did crowding by a medley of non-natives: mustard, red brome, wild oat and foxtail.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2019

This wild oat is somewhat distinguished from the others in France's ever-normal granary by Fernandel, France's top comedian, playing the illegitimate tyke's paternal grandpa.

From Time Magazine Archive

And there performed a deed of note, Revealing Wordsworth's one wild oat.

From Time Magazine Archive

Designated 6-105 by the Agriculture Department, the new wild oat, which has a high protein value, resists the rusts that destroy 6% of the U.S. oat crop every year.

From Time Magazine Archive

“It’s wildness suits you, but it is a small flower, and bashful. For that as well as other,” I cleared my throat, “more obvious reasons, I think we’ll pass the wild oat by.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss