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rattoon

[ra-toon]
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noun, verb (used with or without object)
  1. ratoon.
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ratoon

or rat·toon

[ra-toon]
noun
  1. a sprout or shoot from the root of a plant, especially a sugarcane, after it has been cropped.
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verb (used with or without object)
  1. to put forth or cause to put forth ratoons.
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Origin of ratoon

1625–35; < Spanish retoño sprout, derivative of retoñar to sprout again in the fall, equivalent to re- re- + -(o)toñar, derivative of otoño autumn
Related formsra·toon·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for rattoon

Historical Examples

  • We were now in the foothills of the Rattoon Mountains, and the bluff we were on was very steep.

    The Adventures of Buffalo Bill

    Col. William F. Cody

British Dictionary definitions for rattoon

rattoon

noun, verb
  1. a variant spelling of ratoon
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ratoon

rattoon

noun
  1. a new shoot that grows from near the root or crown of crop plants, esp the sugar cane, after the old growth has been cut back
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verb
  1. to propagate or cause to propagate by such a growth
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Word Origin

C18: from Spanish retoño young shoot, from re- + otoñar to sprout in autumn, from otoño autumn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012