sodbuster

[ sod-buhs-ter ]

noun

1. a farmer who works the soil.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sodbuster¹

First recorded in 1885–90; sod ¹ + buster

Example Sentences

Cotton pickers from Texas and sodbusters from Oklahoma.

From The Guardian

That it contains the grave or graves of a person or persons who were homesteaders, immigrants, prairie farmers, pioneers, sodbusters, first-generation Nebraskans or Civil War veterans.

From Washington Times

It was industrialization that moved farming from the horse and plow to gasoline-powered tractors and combines, enabling sodbusters to turn more soil with less effort.

From Washington Times

In North Dakota, where farmers were tearing out grasslands to plant corn for ethanol production, the law contains “sodbuster” provisions withholding insurance benefits from those who rip up lands the government wants to conserve.

From Scientific American

Think of the plot of “Shane,” in which the ranchers do battle with the “sodbusters.”

From Washington Post