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wild oats

British  

plural noun

  1. slang the indiscretions of youth, esp dissoluteness before settling down (esp in the phrase sow one's wild oats )

"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

wild oats Idioms  

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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