feel one's oats

English

Etymology

Originally American English, an allusion to the behavior of a horse that has been well fed on oats.

Pronunciation

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Verb

feel one's oats (third-person singular simple present feels one's oats, present participle feeling one's oats, simple past and past participle felt one's oats)

1. (originally of horses) To feel energetic or frisky; to behave in a vigorous or bold manner; to feel empowered and important.
   • 1853 November–December, Herman Melville, “Bartleby”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC:

     In fact, precisely as a rash, restive horse is said to feel his oats, so Turkey felt his coat.

   • 1865, George Alfred Townsend, The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth‎^[1]:

     Next to the officer is a shabby-looking boy, whose seat is by the right jamb of the jail door. Of all boys just old enough to feel their oats, this boy is the most commonplace.

   • 1906, Andy Adams [pseudonym], “The Double Trail”, in Cattle Brands:

     The old man feeling his oats, as he leaned with his back against the bar, said to us with a noticeable degree of pride, "Lads, I'm proud of every one of you. Men who will fight to protect my interests has my purse at their command."

   • 1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Georgia's Ruling”, in Whirligigs‎^[2]:

     Sometimes—and who could blame the surveyor?—when the pony was “feeling his oats,” he might step a little higher and farther, and in that case the beneficiary of the scrip might get a thousand or two more acres in his survey than the scrip called for.

   • 1922, Max Brand [pseudonym; Frederick Schiller Faust], Alcatraz‎^[3]:

     "Them hosses are feeling their oats," said McGuire. "Can't tell what they'd be up to the minute I turned my back on 'em. Might jump that old fence and be off, for all I know."

   • 1931, Emily Hahn, Beginners Luck‎^[4]:

     “You’re feeling your oats,” said Gin. “It makes you expect too much of the world, feeling your oats. You can’t help thinking there must be something to do about it. There isn’t; because whatever you do about it, it’s not settled.”

   • 2004 October 29, Michelle Grattan, “Change ahead in Senate's new dawn”, in The Age, Australia, retrieved 5 November 2008:

     The Nationals gave the Coalition its Senate majority and yesterday were feeling their oats.

   • 2006 November 16, Candace Rondeaux, “Forming Families, One Adoption at a Time”, in Washington Post‎^[5], retrieved November 5, 2008:

     "It's a tough road because kids at that time are developmentally feeling their oats," Beverage said.

Related terms

• oatsy
• sow one's wild oats

References

• “feel one's oats”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “oat”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.