n [ C ] ( esp AmE )
( in the southern US ) a poor farmer who rents land and gives part (i.e. a share) of his crops to the owner as payment. This is usually 50% to pay for his house, equipment, seeds and land. The system, which is widely regarded as unfair, was common after the Civil War , and many sharecroppers were poor slaves who had been freed.
► sharecropping n [ U ].