sharecrop

verb, Originally and typically U.S., to farm as a sharecropper (“sharecrop, v.” OED) [‘sharecropper’: noun, Originally US, a farm labourer who receives crops, board, etc., as wages in exchange for work performed. Also more generally: a tenant farmer who gives a part of the income from each crop as rent (“sharecropper, n.” OED)]; see also share-farm, on shares

“They sharecropped with the Smith guy, who I think was an old bachelor or something.”