Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Duncan was born Ruby Lee Phillips on June 7, 1932, near Tallulah, La., where her parents, Ida Bolden and Joseph Phillips, were sharecroppers on a white-owned plantation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

My parents were sharecroppers in Arkansas until 1951, when my dad dared stand up to his boss for not paying him a fair wage at the agricultural weigh station.

From Los Angeles Times • May 2, 2025

That gave companies better proximity to the cotton crop, often harvested by formerly enslaved people now working as poorly paid sharecroppers.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 31, 2024

"I come from a proud line of sharecroppers and cowboys. My grandfather was buried in his cowboy boots," she shares.

From BBC • Mar. 1, 2024

There are no records of Fannie’s life, but she was most likely born a slave on the Lacks property, and like most Lacks slaves who stayed on the plantation as sharecroppers, she never left.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot