Standard Lemma guide

oater

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈoʊ.tɚ/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊtə(ɹ)
  • homophone: odor (some dialects)

1

noun

Meaning 1

A movie or television show about cowboy or frontier life; a western movie.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, informal

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: horse opera, oat opera

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From oat + -er (“Variety -er”). First use appears c. 1945-50, alluding to the fodder for horses, which are common in the movies.