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oat

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oat

Main Entry:: oat
Pronunciation:: \ˈōt\
Function:: noun
Usage:: often attributive
Etymology:: Middle English ote, from Old English āte
Date:: before 12th century

1 a: any of several grasses (genus Avena) ; especially : a widely cultivated cereal grass (A. sativa) b: a crop or plot of the oat ; also : the seed of an oat —usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction2archaic : a reed instrument made of an oat straw

— feel one's oats

: to act in a newly self-confident and often self-important manner

[oat illustration]

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