Ratooned

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A process in agriculture where shoots or branches are allowed to grow from the stumps of harvested plants
2. Referring to the practice of cultivating new growth from the root or base of a plant after it has been cut back
3. Describing a method of regeneration in which new stems emerge from a plant's remaining root system following harvesting

Etymology: "Ratooned" is the past tense and past participle of "ratoon", a verb meaning to sprout new shoots from the roots of a plant that has been cut down or harvested. The verb is possibly borrowed from Spanish "retoño", meaning a shoot or sprout, which itself comes from "retoñar", to sprout again. That Spanish root points to the same basic idea: growth returning from what was already there. The farming practice behind the word is what gives it its sense. In cane cultivation, growers left the root stock in the ground after harvest so that fresh stalks would come up, saving the work of replanting. The word therefore describes a crop renewing itself from below the surface rather than from seed.

Synonyms: sprouted, regrew, resprouted

Antonyms: cut down, removed