oat, oote, ote

[A. S. áta.] 1. Lit. & Bot.: The genus Avena (q. v.), and specially Avena sativa . It has been developed by cultivation from A. fatua . It thrives on almost any soil, even in cold mountain valleys and on marshy ground, and has run into many varieties. It is one of the two grains (the other being barley) which extend furthest north in Europe *2. A pipe. "But now my oat proceeds." -Milton : Lycidas, 88. Wild oats : Originally a term for a rakish, dis sipated, or extravagant person, "Well, go to, wild oats , spendthrift, prodigal."- How a Man may Choose a Good Wife . (1602.) Now obsolete except in the phrase, To sow one's wild oats, i. e., to indulge in youthful di ipation or exce es; hence, To have sown one's wild oats = to have given up the di ipations or exce es of youth; to have reformed. "Poole had picked up some wild oats -he had sown them now."- Lytton : What will he Do with It ? bk. vii., ch. v. oat-fowl, s . A name sometimes given to the Snow Bunting, Plectrophanes nival is . oat-gra , 8. Bot.: The genus Avena (q. v.). oat-starch, s. Chem.: The starch or flour of the oat (q. v.). The granules are polygonal in form, and smaller than those of maize, varying in size from 0001 to 0004 of an inch in diameter. Only the larger granules exhibit a distinct hilum. oat-stone, s. IMG:content-0178.png:[blocks in formation] ery the action of sculling. oar-swivel, s. A pivot for an oar on the gun. eaten. wale; a rowlock. oar-weed, s. Bot.: The largest form of a fucoid, Laminaria digit at a or Cloustoni. chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this; and cake.] A cake made of oaten meal. Oat-starch.