pretassel en · ADJ
Etymology
From pre- + tassel.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Before the appearance of the tassels (pollen-producing flowers) on corn.
The fall armyworm, scourge of young pretassel corn, grows up to be a nondescript brown moth about the length of a long finger’s knuckle.
2008 January 8, Guy Gugliotta, “To Raise Armyworms and Corn Borers, Study Insect Husbandry”, in New York Times: