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
Such systems are part of a cottage industry that has formed in recent decades to help clients vet bills submitted by outside lawyers.
—Joe Mahr, Chicago Tribune, 19 Apr. 2026
Regardless of the growing cottage industry of code-review systems, Kang, of the University of Illinois, is adamant that coders — new and old — can guard their systems against code slop by embracing age-old cybersecurity fundamentals.
—Jared Perlo, NBC news, 7 Apr. 2026
Over the years, a cottage industry of businesses have offered services that have included coaching clients on how to lie about their length of stay or how to conceal their pregnancies from immigration authorities.
—Juliana Kim, NPR, 29 Mar. 2026
By 2020, as Rowling’s trajectory became inescapable, the Sacred Text podcast broke from the pack of Potter-adjacent cottage industries to take a stand.
—Séamas O'Reilly, Vulture, 26 Mar. 2026
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Joe Mahr, Chicago Tribune, 19 Apr. 2026
Regardless of the growing cottage industry of code-review systems, Kang, of the University of Illinois, is adamant that coders — new and old — can guard their systems against code slop by embracing age-old cybersecurity fundamentals.
—Jared Perlo, NBC news, 7 Apr. 2026
Over the years, a cottage industry of businesses have offered services that have included coaching clients on how to lie about their length of stay or how to conceal their pregnancies from immigration authorities.
—Juliana Kim, NPR, 29 Mar. 2026
By 2020, as Rowling’s trajectory became inescapable, the Sacred Text podcast broke from the pack of Potter-adjacent cottage industries to take a stand.
—Séamas O'Reilly, Vulture, 26 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cottage industry
Cite this Entry
“Cottage industry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cottage%20industry. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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