land-poor

American  

[land-poor] / ˈlændˌpʊər /

adjective

1. in need of ready money while owning much land.

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land-poor British  

adjective

1. owning much unprofitable land and lacking the money to maintain its fertility or improve it

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Etymology

Origin of land-poor

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

Texas—immense, unorganized, full of cattle for which no profitable market could be found, cattle-rustlers, land-poor cow-barons and original sin.

From Time Magazine Archive

Already the land-poor country's 700 golf courses take up as much space as 1� Tokyos.

From Time Magazine Archive

The motive of President after President was to encourage settlement of the empty, rocky area, once regarded hungrily by land-poor Chile as a possible zone of expansion.

From Time Magazine Archive

His father, a land-poor, dirt-poor migrant farmer, went as far north as Canada to harvest crops.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the planting districts where the owner was land-poor, he made an attempt to bring in Northern capital and Northern or foreign labor.

From The Sequel of Appomattox : a chronicle of the reunion of the states by Fleming, Walter Lynwood