Meanings
nounfield hand (plural field hands)
plural field hands · alternative fieldhand
- USAn outdoor worker on a farm, plantation, or ranch.
A good weekly wage for a field hand on a banana plantation is $3.
1938 August 8, “Excitement in Jamaica”, in Time1 more example
My mother was hired out to a Mr. Stewart, who lived about twelve miles from old master's, and, being a field hand, she seldom had leisure, by day, for the performance of the journey.
1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 3, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
APA
field hand. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/field%20hand
MLA
“field hand.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/field%20hand. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “field hand,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/field%20hand.
Source: field hand on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.