sharecropadj.n.
/ˈʃɛːkrɒp/, U.S. /ˈʃɛrˌkrɑp/ Chiefly U.S.
A. adj.
Usually hyphenated. Of, relating to, or characterized by sharecropping.
ΚΠ
1871 Glasgow Herald 21 July 6/7 The share-crop system, though strongly favoured by many in the South.., seems to me liable to grave objection.
1945 A. L. Langley Lion is in Streets vi. 101 Throughout five parishes on share-crop farms and on the owned-and-mortgaged farms, there was a noticeable lack of adult men.
1962 E. Snow Other Side of River (1963) lvi. 427 The ‘well-to-do’ peasants (living at a prosperous share-crop level) resented anything that looked like loss of control over their savings, homes and land.
1998 J. McManners Church & Society 18th-cent. France I. i. iv. 99 The lands..often consisted of sizeable farms (some being métairies run by tenants on a share-crop basis).
2017 MELUS Winter 148 A full paragraph about the worst practices of the share-crop system in the United States was completely eliminated when the text was prepared for publication.
B. n.
A crop grown by a sharecropper, part of which is received as wages or given as rent.See note at sharecropper n.
ΚΠ
1873 Phrenol. Jrnl. May 348/2 They get excellent wages in North Mississippi..and farmers readily rent them land or run share crops with them.
1928 J. M. Peterkin Scarlet Sister Mary xxi. 235 The..thing would cost as much as his whole share-crop of cotton would make in five years.
2014 Oxf. Times (Nexis) 23 Oct. The story opens in Natchez, Mississippi, where jazz musician Olu Dara was born and raised amidst the sharecrops and KKK crosses.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2022).
sharecropv.
/ˈʃɛːkrɒp/, U.S. /ˈʃɛrˌkrɑp/ Originally and typically U.S.
1.
a. intransitive. To farm as a sharecropper.See note at sharecropper n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > [verb (intransitive)] > types of farming
to farm (also hold, etc.) off-hand1807
sharecrop1893
cocky1899
share-farm1903
nest1918
1893 Arkansas Gaz. 26 Mar. 12/2 A. G. Seele is a colored Baptist preacher and makes his home in Ashley Township. He share-crops with Richard Hudgins.
1936 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 3 Nov. 1/5 Bridges, who sharecrops for W. G. Gray, Senath attorney, sat in a big chair and poked wood in the fire.
1974 Evening Herald (Rock Hill, S. Carolina) 18 Apr. 13/2 He was born in Greenville County, S.C., and spent his youth helping his father sharecrop.
2016 Times-News (Burlington, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 14 Mar. He owns 400 acres where his family used to sharecrop, and now raises sheep, cattle and goats.
b. transitive. To cultivate (farmland) as a sharecropper.
ΚΠ
1906 Trans. National Assoc. Cotton Manufacturers No. 80. 244 This land was share cropped.
1967 Soil Conservation Oct. 66 Nine years ago, Thomas Bolton and his father share-cropped a small 100-acre farm for a fourth of the crops as rent.
2003 J. Pryer Poverty & Vulnerability in Dhaka Slums xiii. 154 Her husband sharecropped a small plot of land belonging to the landlord.
2. transitive. To grow (a particular crop) as a sharecropper. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [verb (transitive)] > share-crop
sharecrop1922
1922 Monroe (North Carolina) Jrnl. 13 Jan. 2/1 I am going to ‘share-crop’ cotton with them every year in the future.
1944 Chicago Daily News 2 Dec. 4/6 The Capone gang owned several locals of the hotel and restaurant workers in Chicago, and had Lou Romano share-cropping them.
1960 H. E. Bates Aspidistra in Babylon 215 A toothless Chinaman..share-cropped vanilla farther up the hill.
2006 New Yorker 17 Apr. 59/1 Victor sharecropped tobacco, a reliable cash crop.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2022).
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adj.n.1871
v.1893