Which literary device is used in this sentence The rancher hired three new hands to help with the branding of cattle.?

The literary device used in the sentence "The rancher hired three new hands to help with the branding of cattle" is metonymy.

Here's why:

* Metonymy is a figure of speech where a word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated.

* In this sentence, "hands" is used to represent the workers themselves.

Therefore, the sentence uses metonymy to concisely refer to the hired workers.