Dictionary

cottage industry

noun

: a system for making products to sell in which people work in their own homes and use their own equipment

Full Definition of COTTAGE INDUSTRY

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>
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First Known Use of COTTAGE INDUSTRY

1921

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