cottage industry
Americannoun
-
the production, for sale, of goods at home, as the making of handicrafts by rural families.
-
any small-scale, loosely organized industry.
noun
Etymology
Origin of cottage industry
First recorded in 1920–25
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A lucrative cottage industry has developed around this system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Mombasa B is in a fleet of tankers controlled by the dominant company in the cottage industry of shuttle shippers, South Korea’s Sinokor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
As a result, a cottage industry of mental health “expat therapists” has emerged, helping people navigate these complex emotions of moving abroad.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
A whole cottage industry has also developed online to advise landlords how to flip rental properties.
From BBC ● May 20, 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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
