industry
Americannoun
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the aggregate of manufacturing or technically productive enterprises in a particular field, often named after its principal product.
the automobile industry;
the steel industry.
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any general business activity; commercial enterprise.
the Italian tourist industry.
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trade or manufacture in general.
the rise of industry in Africa.
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the ownership and management of companies, factories, etc..
friction between labor and industry.
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systematic work or labor.
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energetic, devoted activity at any work or task; diligence.
Her teacher praised her industry.
- Synonyms:
- industriousness, assiduity, effort, application
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the aggregate of work, scholarship, and ancillary activity in a particular field, often named after its principal subject.
the Mozart industry.
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Archaeology. an assemblage of artifacts regarded as unmistakably the work of a single prehistoric group.
noun
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organized economic activity concerned with manufacture, extraction and processing of raw materials, or construction
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a branch of commercial enterprise concerned with the output of a specified product or service
the steel industry
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industrial ownership and management interests collectively, as contrasted with labour interests
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manufacturing enterprise collectively, as opposed to agriculture
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diligence; assiduity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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mini-industrynoun
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preindustrynoun
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subindustrynoun
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superindustrynoun
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interindustryadjective
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nonindustryadjective
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proindustryadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of industry
First recorded in 1475–85; earlier industrie, from Latin industria, noun use of feminine of industrius “diligent, assiduous”; see industrious
Explanation
An industry is a group of manufacturers or businesses that produce a particular kind of goods or services. Workers in the textile industry design, fabricate, and sell cloth. The tourist industry includes all the commercial aspects of tourism. You can use industry to refer to a group of similar businesses: The automobile industry makes cars and car parts. The food service industry prepares food and delivers it to hotels, schools, and other big facilities. Industry comes from the Latin industria, which means "diligence, hard work," and the word is still used with that meaning. If you build a house in three weeks, when the same job takes everyone else three months, you're showing impressive industry.
Vocabulary lists containing industry
Can I Work It? Words for "Job"
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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Africa - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
President Trump has tried to spur space companies along, including signing an executive order last year designed to reduce regulations tied to the industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
SK hynix is a specialist supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips to US industry behemoth Nvidia, and a pillar of South Korea's tech-led economy.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
“Today’s lawsuit continues the absurdity and irrationality that the industry has come to expect from the defunct organization formerly known as the HFPA.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Cyber security officer Ritesh Patel was on the Hugging Face call with around 450 others and says the industry is working hard to address the new threat of rogue AI agents.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
They were part of the effort to keep the Germans away from the Soviet oil fields, which were so necessary to keep the gears of industry moving.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Other industries haven’t reacted as fast as they should have, and AstraZeneca doesn’t want to fall in the same trap, its CEO says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
If that's to be the case, he will need to make sure that teenagers in all parts of England - including in areas without thriving industries - don't fall through the gaps.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Among them were a former rural mayor, an ex-police commander, a bar owner, a rancher, a fireman and various entrepreneurs associated with mining and construction, industries heavily subject to extortion demands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
They support industries such as agriculture, electric utilities and fuel and convenience stores.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
But these were phenomena of the pre-industrial era, before the flowering of the industries whose products were to pervade the environment of almost every living thing.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
