sugarcane

noun sug·ar·cane \ ˈshu̇-gər-ˌkān \

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of sugarcane

: a stout tall perennial grass (Saccharum officinarum) native to tropical southeast Asia that has a large terminal panicle and is widely grown in warm regions as a source of sugar

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Recent Examples of sugarcane from the Web

State and AgCenter scientists are evaluating whether rice, sorghum and sugarcane may be hosts for the scale.

— tristan baurick, NOLA.com, "Emergency quarantine declared for pest that's decimating Louisiana wetlands," 27 Mar. 2018
The sisters traveled regularly to Jamaica and India, and Harris can recall sitting on the porch of her grandmother’s house in Jamaica for hours, chewing on sugarcane and listening to her father and uncles talk politics.

— zoe ghertner, Vogue, "Kamala Harris Is Dreaming Big," 19 Mar. 2018
Hurricane Maria dismantled nearly every one of 130 homes in Villa Esperanza, founded seven years ago when a group of locals desperate for affordable places to live took over a former sugarcane field owned by the island’s land authority.

— andres viglucci, miamiherald, "Puerto Rico’s housing crisis after Hurricane Maria | Miami Herald," 14 Feb. 2018
The Cyphochilus beetle, a common sugarcane pest in Southeast Asia, boasts stark white scales that are brighter than almost any other substance in nature.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "Scientists Create a Super-White Coating, with Help from a Super-White Beetle," 15 Mar. 2018
And if the ethanol mandate were really about encouraging biofuel consumption, why has Congress imposed tariffs that keep out cheap Brazilian sugarcane ethanol?

— thomas landstreet, WSJ, "Biofuel Mandates Are a Bad Idea Whose Time May Be Up," 11 Mar. 2018
In their rush to exploit its popularity, big booze producers homogenized the product and started using stuff like sugarcane to round out recipes when the price of blue agave rose.

— john defore, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Agave: The Spirit of a Nation': Film Review | SXSW 2018," 10 Mar. 2018
By the time the Domino Sugar factory was opened, hundreds of thousands of these workers were being sent to sugarcane fields—a lion’s share came from India and were shipped directly to Guyana.

— Longreads, "Kara Walker’s Subtlety," 28 Feb. 2018
Once a major stopping point in the slave trade and a center for sugarcane and rum production, the islands’ main industry now is tourism.

— james lynch, Popular Mechanics, "After the Storm," 9 Feb. 2018

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

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First Known Use of sugarcane

15th century

in the meaning defined above

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SUGARCANE Defined for English Language Learners

sugarcane

noun

Definition of sugarcane for English Language Learners

: a tall grass that is grown in warm places as a source of sugar

SUGARCANE Defined for Kids

sugarcane

noun sug·ar·cane \ ˈshu̇-gər-ˌkān \

Definition of sugarcane for Students

: a tall strong grass with jointed stems widely raised in tropical regions for the sugar it yields

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Definition of sugarcane

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SUGARCANE Defined for English Language Learners

sugarcane

Definition of sugarcane for English Language Learners

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sugarcane

Definition of sugarcane for Students

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sugarcane

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Definition of sugarcane for English Language Learners

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sugarcane

Definition of sugarcane for Students

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