sow one's wild oats

Verb

sow one's wild oats (third-person singular simple present sows one's wild oats, present participle sowing one's wild oats, simple past sowed one's wild oats, past participle sown one's wild oats or sowed one's wild oats)

1. (figuratively, idiomatic) To spread one's genes around by impregnating many females.
2. (broadly, idiomatic) To engage in premarital or extramarital flings.
   • Let the boys be boys,—the longer the better,—and let the young men sow their wild oats if they must,—but mothers, sisters, and friends may help to make the crop a small one, and keep many tares from spoiling the harvest, by believing,—and showing that they believe,—in the possibility of loyalty to...1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Learning to Forget”, in Little Women: […], 2nd part, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 264
   • The young men go down to the sea and sow their wild oats in the wicked ports, returning periodically, between voyages, to live the old intensive morality, to court till ten o’clock, to sit under the minister each Sunday, and to listen at home to the same stern precepts that the elders preached to...1914, Jack London, “Samuel”, in The Strength of the Strong, New York: MacMillan
3. (broadly, idiomatic) To have numerous sexual partners.
4. (broadly, idiomatic, often) To indulge in a period of irresponsible behavior.