cottage industry

American  

noun

1. the production, for sale, of goods at home, as the making of handicrafts by rural families.

2. any small-scale, loosely organized industry.

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cottage industry British  

noun

1. an industry in which employees work in their own homes, often using their own equipment

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Etymology

Origin of cottage industry

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

A whole cottage industry has also developed online to advise landlords how to flip rental properties.

From BBC • May 20, 2026

Kpler’s maps have since blanketed television news broadcasts, social-media feeds and traders’ terminals, turning obscure ships into objects of global fascination and drumming up enormous business for the cottage industry that tracks them.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

Gorka’s path to the White House began in the cottage industry of self-styled terrorism experts that sprang up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

From Salon • Apr. 22, 2026

"Yes, I do worry a bit, especially because there's now a whole cottage industry of companies that try to make a big buck and make it even simpler to install OpenClaw," he said.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

Daniel and Moses thought they were paying a courtesy call on a cottage industry, but the cottage was a castle.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis