1. farmers who work land owned by someone else in exchange for a share of the crops produced
Usage: historical; primarily used in reference to the post-Civil War American South

Examples

• Many former slaves became sharecroppers after the Civil War ended.
• The sharecroppers worked the cotton fields from dawn to dusk.
• Sharecroppers often struggled to make ends meet due to unfair contracts.
• The landowner provided seeds and tools to the sharecroppers.
• Economic hardship forced many families to become sharecroppers.
• Sharecroppers typically kept only a small portion of their harvest.
• The Great Depression made life even harder for sharecroppers in the South.