canecutter

English

Etymology

cane +‎ cutter

Noun

canecutter (plural canecutters)

1. A person employed to harvest sugar cane.
   • 1981, Carmelo Mesa-Lago, The Economy of Socialist Cuba: A Two-decade Appraisal, page 62:

     It was decided to calculate costs of voluntary labor beforehand to assure a "net” contribution to the harvest and that unions selected the most productive canecutters.

   • 1964, Favourite Australian Bush Songs, page 137:

     This mournful melody from Queensland tells of the woes and misfortunes of early canecutters.

2. A machine for harvesting sugar cane.
   • 1995, Glenn R. Conrad, Ray F. Lucas, White Gold, page 17:

     Harvesting, before the arrival of the mechanical canecutter, was performed by large numbers of workers wielding long knives.