feel oats


feel (one's) oats

1. To be very active and energetic. The dog must be feeling his oats, considering how he's running around the yard today.2. To be aware of one's own power or importance. If you sassed the boss like that, you must be feeling your oats!See also: feel, oat

feel one's oats

Fig. to be very lively. Careful with that horse. He's feeling his oats today. Mary was feeling her oats and decided to go out dancing.See also: feel, oat

feel (one's) oats

1. To be energetic and playful.2. To act in a self-important manner.See also: feel, oat

feel one's oats, to

To act frisky or lively. This saying, with its analogy to a horse that is lively after being fed, is American in origin and dates from the early nineteenth century. It appeared in print in Amos Lawrence’s Extracts from Diary and Correspondence (1833): “We both ‘feel our oats’ and our youth.”See also: feel