cottage industry

noun

1

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

2

: a small and often informally organized industry

3

: 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

There’s a cottage industry of low-budget, VOD movies that shoot in Eastern European countries such as Romania and Bulgaria for the low labor costs and tax incentives. —Kimberly Nordyke, HollywoodReporter, 4 May 2025

Daisy, and a motley group of co-workers, toil in a cottage industry of agencies that evaluate harmful and offensive pictures and videos uploaded to social media. —Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 7 Mar. 2025

Local Law 97, which mandates emissions reductions from our largest source of carbon dioxide, our buildings, is creating a cottage industry of consultants and builders to help. —Jeff Roth, New York Daily News, 23 Apr. 2025

But some cottage industry hiking companies got hold of the fabric and started making fleece hoodies using just Alpha Direct. —Scott Gilbertson, Wired News, 18 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cottage industry

• interindustry