[ra-toon] 
| 1. | a sprout or shoot from the root of a plant, esp. a sugarcane, after it has been cropped. |
| 2. | to put forth or cause to put forth ratoons. |
| ra·toon also rat·toon (rā-tōōn') n. A shoot sprouting from a plant base, as in the banana, pineapple, or sugar cane. v. ra·tooned also rat·tooned, ra·toon·ing also rat·toon·ing, ra·toons also rat·toons v. intr. To produce or grow as a ratoon. v. tr. To propagate (a crop) from ratoons. [Spanish retoño, sprout, from retoñar, to sprout : re-, again (from Latin; see re-) + otoñar, to grow in autumn (from otoño, autumn, from Latin autumnus; see autumn).] |
| rat·toon (rā-tōōn') n. & v. Variant of ratoon. |
