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
Wendy KaminerExamples of cottage industry in a Sentence
weaving, pottery, and other cottage industries
Recent Examples on the Web
And calling out images that were created by artificial intelligence without proper labeling has become a virtual cottage industry in the media world.
—Karla Adam, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
Since then, research and rankings on presidential greatness have bloomed into a cottage industry.
—Jonathan Bean, Fortune, 19 Feb. 2024
The direct-sales pitch is that this woman can run a cottage industry from home in her spare time, on her own terms, without having to pay for a babysitter or a business degree, and surrounded by a like-minded community of effusive salespeople and instant friends.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2024
There is an entire cottage industry around the British royals and their lives, public and private.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 28 Feb. 2024
The moves are a painful step backward for the venture capital industry, which spent the last decade transforming from a cottage industry into a global force.
—Erin Griffith, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2024
And a cottage industry of podcasts, as well as fan and gossip accounts have sprung up to serve them.
—Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2024
Women who worked on farms alongside their husbands or who labored at home in cottage industries such as weaving, for example, often went uncounted.
—Paul Wiseman, David Keyton, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Oct. 2023
But internal Juul emails highlight a cottage industry in Washington that charges corporations to generate these comments.
—Nicholas Florko, STAT, 15 Feb. 2024
Karla Adam, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
Since then, research and rankings on presidential greatness have bloomed into a cottage industry.
—Jonathan Bean, Fortune, 19 Feb. 2024
The direct-sales pitch is that this woman can run a cottage industry from home in her spare time, on her own terms, without having to pay for a babysitter or a business degree, and surrounded by a like-minded community of effusive salespeople and instant friends.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2024
There is an entire cottage industry around the British royals and their lives, public and private.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 28 Feb. 2024
The moves are a painful step backward for the venture capital industry, which spent the last decade transforming from a cottage industry into a global force.
—Erin Griffith, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2024
And a cottage industry of podcasts, as well as fan and gossip accounts have sprung up to serve them.
—Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2024
Women who worked on farms alongside their husbands or who labored at home in cottage industries such as weaving, for example, often went uncounted.
—Paul Wiseman, David Keyton, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Oct. 2023
But internal Juul emails highlight a cottage industry in Washington that charges corporations to generate these comments.
—Nicholas Florko, STAT, 15 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cottage industry.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near cottage industry
Cite this Entry
“Cottage industry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cottage%20industry. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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