A type of grain plant whose seeds are eaten as food, often in the form of oatmeal or used in baking. Oats are known as a healthy whole grain.
From Old English “āte,” likely from a Germanic root, though its exact origin is uncertain. The plural “oats” is more common when talking about the food.
We almost always say “oats” when we talk about eating them, even though it’s a mass of tiny seeds, not countable like apples. Phrases like “feel your oats” once referred to horses getting energetic from eating them, and then shifted to people feeling lively or confident.
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