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
Since then, cooling atoms and trapping them has become a cottage industry, giving rise to optical atomic clocks, atomic navigation systems, and neutral-atom quantum computers.
—IEEE Spectrum, 24 Sep. 2025
The sordid history of Oklahoma’s second-largest city has become a kind of cottage industry for Hollywood in recent years.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 23 Sep. 2025
The film concludes with a gripping interview with Hansen, the Emmy-winning charismatic face of the show who has built a cottage industry out of Predator and its spinoffs.
—Jason Newman, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2025
As a result of these and other developments, declaring the demise of the two-state solution has become something of a cottage industry.
—Richard Haass, Foreign Affairs, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cottage industry
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IEEE Spectrum, 24 Sep. 2025
The sordid history of Oklahoma’s second-largest city has become a kind of cottage industry for Hollywood in recent years.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 23 Sep. 2025
The film concludes with a gripping interview with Hansen, the Emmy-winning charismatic face of the show who has built a cottage industry out of Predator and its spinoffs.
—Jason Newman, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2025
As a result of these and other developments, declaring the demise of the two-state solution has become something of a cottage industry.
—Richard Haass, Foreign Affairs, 3 Sep. 2025
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 3 Oct. 2025.
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