Industry is hard, steady work toward accomplishing something meaningful. When your math teacher notices your industry in practicing problems every night, she's recognizing your consistent effort and dedication. Someone who shows industry doesn't just work when they feel like it: they keep going even when the work gets difficult or boring.

The word also refers to a whole category of businesses that make similar products or provide similar services. The film industry includes everyone who makes movies, from directors to set designers to the people who sell popcorn at theaters. The automobile industry encompasses all the companies that design, manufacture, and sell cars. The agricultural industry involves farming and food production. When people talk about working in industry, they often mean manufacturing or making physical products, as opposed to working in an office.

These two meanings connect in an interesting way: industries succeed when they're filled with industrious people (people who show industry in their work). The factories and companies that built America's industrial strength in the 1800s and 1900s relied on workers who brought dedication and effort to their jobs every single day.