wild oats
Britishplural noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the bad, late-'90s cable version of this story, Minda's sowing her wild oats but eventually realizes he's the one, and then they get married and have babies and whatever.
From Salon • Oct. 1, 2023
In Season 2, Gwen has attempted to sow her wild oats as a D.J. in Bali, and she returns home with a fresh, if not always welcome, perspective.
From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2022
Prince Karl goes to university in Heidelberg, sows wild oats, and falls in love with an innkeeper’s niece.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2021
When the first ranchers arrived in Boulder, they encountered nearly ideal rangeland: dense with bluegrass and bunchgrass and wild oats, veined with natural troughs to channel the rain.
From The New Yorker • Sep. 24, 2018
The heads of the wild oats were so heavy with seed that they hung over on their stalks.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.