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tenant farmer
noun
: a farmer who works land owned by another and pays rent either in cash or in shares of produce
Examples of tenant farmer in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Large tracts such as Brown’s Inheritance were often inhabited by tenant farmers who worked the land for owners who lived elsewhere.
—Mary Ann Ashcraft, Baltimore Sun, 23 Mar. 2024
New York passed the first anti-mask law in 1845 in response to a tenant farmer rebellion that turned violent.
—Jessie Balmert, The Enquirer, 15 May 2024
Even after slavery’s end, the region continued its reliance on oppressed labor – sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and people who had been convicted of crimes.
—Patrik Jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 May 2024
When the Great Famine of 1847 forced Irish tenant farmers to flee Ireland, many eventually found their way to Baltimore County and to the settlement of Texas, in particular.
—Melissa Whatley, Baltimore Sun, 22 Jan. 2024
In the early 1850s, William A. Bradley, a Maryland enslaver and the former mayor of Washington, rented out the majority of the island to tenant farmers.
—Sue Eisenfeld, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Feb. 2024
The only laborers Ludvig manages to keep are a couple of runaway tenant farmers, Johannes (Morten Hee Andersen) and Ann Barbara (Amanda Collin), whom Frederik also fancies his own.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2024
The only laborers Ludvig manages to keep are a couple of runaway tenant farmers Johannes (Morten Hee Andersen) and Ann Barbara (Amanda Collin), whom Frederik also fancies his own.
—Katie Walsh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Feb. 2024
His father and mother, Will Mae (Reed) Ogletree, were tenant farmers, picking peaches, apricots, grapes and figs around the Central Valley.
—Clay Risen, New York Times, 7 Aug. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tenant farmer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1748, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near tenant farmer
Cite this Entry
“Tenant farmer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenant%20farmer. Accessed 12 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
tenant farmer
noun
: a farmer who works land owned by another and pays rent either in cash or in shares of produce
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