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subsistence farming
or subsistence agriculture
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noun
farming whose products are intended to provide for the basic needs of the farmer, with little surplus for marketing.
farming that brings little or no profit to the farmer, allowing only for a marginal livelihood.
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Origin of subsistence farming
First recorded in 1935–40
Words nearby subsistence farming
subsidize, subsidy, subsist, subsistence, subsistence allowance, subsistence farming, subsistence level, subsistence wage, subsistent, subsocial, subsoil
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use subsistence farming in a sentence
Pennsylvania developed possibly the most flourishing subsistence farming.
British Dictionary definitions for subsistence farming
subsistence farming
noun
a type of farming in which most of the produce (subsistence crop) is consumed by the farmer and his family, leaving little or nothing to be marketed
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for subsistence farming
subsistence farming
Farming that provides enough food for the farmer and his family but not enough for sale. By comparison, commercial farming is farming that provides products for sale.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.