indentured servant

Definition of indentured servant

: a person who signs and is bound by indentures to work for another for a specified time especially in return for payment of travel expenses and maintenance

Examples of indentured servant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The laws never went into effect, and under her reign, the nobility increased its power over their indentured servants. — Erin Blakemore, National Geographic, "Idealistic and tough, Catherine the Great sought to modernize Russia," 1 Nov. 2019 Mattai’s multimedia objects, which examine the present-day legacy of her family’s past as indentured servants in Guyana, is thoughtful, colorful and complicated. — John Wenzel, The Know, "From “Northside” to Monet, Denver’s biggest arts and culture moments of 2019," 24 Dec. 2019 As late as 1964, Bo and Lake Giles were still toiling like indentured servants. — CBS News, "On the Road for the holidays with Steve Hartman," 23 Dec. 2019 Before then, more families lived on farms, out of sight of surveillance, and children could be their parents’ little workers—indentured servants until adulthood. — Lynne Tillman, Harper's magazine, "Roy Meets World," 25 Nov. 2019 The Servants Plot, as it was known, involved white and black indentured servants who rebelled against the colony’s exploitative tobacco cultivation industry. — Erin Blakemore, National Geographic, "How two centuries of slave revolts shaped American history," 8 Nov. 2019 Rogers never misses a beat in a stellar and often frenetic portrayal as Mary, an indentured servant and the most fervently religious of the girls. — Patti Restivo, baltimoresun.com, "Laurel Mill Playhouse’s bewitching tale of hysteria in ‘Afflicted: Daughters of Salem’," 1 Nov. 2019 The fae work in lowly occupations, often as indentured servants to work off the cost of their passage to safety. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Review: Carnival Row brings a richly textured fantasy world to vibrant life," 3 Sep. 2019 By the end of the 17th century, the colonies’ reliance on indentured servants had shifted toward that of enslaved African people. — National Geographic, "400 years ago, enslaved Africans first arrived in Virginia," 13 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'indentured servant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

17 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Indentured servant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indentured%20servant. Accessed 20 Feb. 2020.

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