oatmeal
(ˈəʊtmiːl)
Forms: see oat and meal.
1. a. Meal made from oats.
| c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 14 Take almondes unblanchid..Put ote-mele to. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 244 A man Sholde ette mettis of colde and moisti complexcion,..as..Potage of oot-mell. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xvii. 19 Behynde the saddyl, they [the Scottis] wyll haue a lytle sacke full of ootemele. 1535 Coverdale Prov. xxvii. 22 Though thou shuldest bray a foole with a pestell in a morter like otemeell. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 29 Oatmeal is to be accounted the best of all Flour. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. i. xi. i. (1869) I. 171 The common people in Scotland..are fed with oat-meal. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 333 Poultices..formed of oat-meal. 1873 Kingsley Lett. (1878) II. 417 For growing children, oatmeal is invaluable. |
† b. Proverb.
Obs.| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. (1877) 329 Leosthenes had perswaded the citee of Athenes to make warre, beeyng set agog to thinke all the worlde otemele. 1615 Swetnam Arraignm. Wom. iii, The worlde is not all made of ote⁓meale, nor all is not golde that glisters. 1673 Vinegar & Must. Wedn. Lect., You think..that all the world is oat⁓meal. |
c. Short for oatmeal porridge.
† 2. pl. A name for a set of riotous or profligate young men early in the 17th century.
Obs. slang. ‘No trace of this odd appellation has yet been found except that the author of a ludicrous pamphlet has taken the name of Oliver Oat-meale’ (Nares
Gloss. 1822).
| 1624 Ford Sun's Darling i. i, Do mad prank with Roaring boys and oatmeals. |
3. A greyish-fawn colour resembling that of oatmeal. Also
attrib. or as adj.| 1927 Daily Express 2 May 7 Colours: Beige, Oatmeal, [etc.]. 1935 A. Christie Three Act Tragedy iii. ix. 188 The room..had walls of a rather drab oatmeal colour. 1939–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 636/2 All wool flannels... Oatmeal Shade. 1951 ‘C. Carnac’ It's her own Funeral i. 10 The dark panelling made a good background to her oatmeal suit. 1951 Catal. of Exhibits, South Bank Exhib., Festival of Britain 58/2 Women's oatmeal glacé gloves. 1960 House & Garden May 61/2 Settee..covered in oatmeal tweed. 1961 Guardian 1 Feb. 7/5 Colours were pale green, oatmeal, navy. 1963 Times 27 Feb. 12/5 Contrasting cravats of silk or organza set off soft oatmeal or sand tones, pale tilleul greens, navy, black, off-white. 1970 [see kingfisher 3]. 1973 ‘R. MacLeod’ Burial in Portugal iii. 69 An oatmeal sports coat. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
oatmeal bread,
oatmeal flummery,
oatmeal groats,
oatmeal gruel,
oatmeal man,
oatmeal mill,
oatmeal porridge,
oatmeal stout;
oatmeal-chewer,
oatmeal-eater,
oatmeal-maker; also applied
attrib. to cloth of a minutely speckled pattern suggestive of oatmeal, as
oatmeal frieze,
oatmeal serge, etc.;
oatmeal mush U.S., porridge made with oatmeal;
oatmeal soap, soap containing oatmeal as a mild abrasive.
| 1943 A. L. Simon Conc. Encycl. Gastron. IV. 83/1 *Oatmeal bread. 1974 R. B. Parker God save Child (1975) xii. 86 He put a plate of sliced turkey..and a loaf of oatmeal bread on the table. |
| 1712 Steele Spect. No. 431 ¶3, I desire you would find out some Name for these craving Damsels,..Trash-eaters, *Oatmeal-chewers, Pipe-champers, Chalk-lickers [etc.]. |
| 1886 Ripon Chron. 4 Sept. 2/6 New *Oatmeal Cloths, in plain and fancy cream. |
| 1885 Pall Mall G. 28 Jan. 9/1 Dresses of *oatmeal cream, with bonnets to match. |
| 1767 A. Campbell Lexiph. 38 Professions..of everlasting amity, past now between the Cow-killer and *Oat-meal-eater. |
| 1778 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. 204 To make *Oatmeal Flummery. |
| 1594 Lyly Moth. Bomb. in O. Pl. (1814) I. 278 You *oatmeal-groat you were acquainted with this plot. 1611 Closet for Ladies & Gentlew. 134 Oatemeale grotes soked in vineger. |
| 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 457 Throat squincy..vse *Otemeale grewell well sifted. |
| 1599 Canterbury Marriage Licences (MS.), Thomas Jones..*Otmellmaker. 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5882/3 Thomas Cozens,..Oatmeal maker. |
| 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 102 For these Crops, being but of Oates, I could have had five pound an Acre, being offered it by an *Oat-meal man. |
| 1883 H. P. Spofford in Harper's Mag. Aug. 465/1 You've been the means of starving me..on *oatmeal mush. 1903 S. Clapin New Dict. Amer. 291 Oatmeal-mush. |
| 1812 Examiner 24 Aug. 533/2 Oatmeal boiled in water (*oatmeal porridge). |
| 1890–91 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Fall & Winter 42 Colgate's soaps—*oatmeal, [etc.]. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 19/1 (heading) ‘Oat Meal’ Toilet Soap. c 1938 Fortnum & Mason Price List 54/1 Soaps... Violet Oatmeal. 1977 Honey Nov. 55/2 Friction cleaning is most effective on blackheads... You can use Boots No 7. very mild oatmeal and lavender soap 89p. |
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 64/1 *Oatmeal Stout (recommended for its tonic properties) doz. 9/-. 1976 J. B. Hilton Gamekeeper's Gallows iii. 26 If he wins, he always takes it [sc. a rabbit] a bottle of oatmeal stout home. |