cottage industry

noun

: an industry whose labor force consists of family units or individuals working at home with their own equipment

: a small and often informally organized industry

: a limited but enthusiastically pursued activity or subject

this debate about sex and law became a cottage industry for feminist academics—

Wendy Kaminer

Examples of cottage industry in a Sentence

weaving, pottery, and other cottage industries

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The juggernaut album has sold 18 million copies, becoming one of the biggest holiday sellers of all time, and spawned an entire cottage industry for Carey: a regular winter tour, books, and videos. —

Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 6 Dec. 2024 There’s a cottage industry of AI LinkedIn comment and post generators to help the career-minded churn out content to dazzle potential bosses or prospective customers. —

Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 26 Nov. 2024 The latest: magnet mayhem (and get Musk) There’s a cottage industry of blogs that will jump on almost anything negative that’s trending on Tesla forums. —

Brooke Crothers, Forbes, 24 Nov. 2024 There’s a cottage industry where people see this now as a way to garner attention — again, to get those eyeballs. —

Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 5 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for cottage industry

Word History

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of cottage industry was in 1849

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Cottage industry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cottage%20industry. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

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