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.

---

cottage industry British  

noun

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

---

Etymology

Origin of cottage industry

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cottage industry

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

From BBC ● May 20, 2026

With many of the fastest-growing companies remaining private for years, a cottage industry of secondary-share sale platforms has cropped up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 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

They are aided by a cottage industry that helps scout for promising and lucrative targets for research.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026

If eugenics was becoming a cottage industry in Germany, it was already a full-fledged national operation in America.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee