sugarcane

American  

[shoog-er-keyn] / ˈʃʊg ərˌkeɪn /

Or sugar cane

noun

1. a tall grass, Saccharum officinarum, of tropical and warm regions, having a stout, jointed stalk, and constituting the chief source of sugar.

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Etymology

Origin of sugarcane

First recorded in 1560–70; sugar + cane

Explanation

Sugarcane is a tall, grassy plant that's used to make sugar. The majority of sugarcane is grown in Brazil. Most of the world's sugar is produced from sugarcane — and in recent years, that's meant a total of about 1.8 billion tons of harvested sugarcane annually. Special factories process the cut cane, extracting sugar crystals from inside its stalks, then evaporating moisture from the crystals to create fine, white table sugar. Other sugar products come from sugarcane as well, including molasses and cane syrup.

Example Sentences

In Brazil, expectations that more sugarcane would be diverted to ethanol production supported the market, though strong late-April processing helped temper gains.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

The woman crouches, coaxing the animal with sweet compliments and a stick of sugarcane she brought with her.

From Slate • May 27, 2026

A new type of artificial saliva, delivered as a mouthwash and made using a lab-modified sugarcane protein called CANECPI-5, could help protect the teeth of patients with head and neck cancer.

From Science Daily • Apr. 5, 2026

The set featured a traditional casita structure, block party salsa dancing, Puerto Rican flags and a mock sugarcane field.

From BBC • Feb. 9, 2026

Flinging open the kitchen door, I rushed into the backyard, past the workers in the sugarcane fields, past the tractors, their noise blurring into the distance.

From "Amal Unbound" by Aisha Saeed