monopoly
Pluralmonopolies
- 1A situation where only one company sells a product, so it can control the price.
Like being the only shop in town, so people must buy from you no matter the price.
For years one railroad had a monopoly on travel between the two towns.
If only one store sells water, it has a monopoly and can charge what it wants.
Oppositecompetition
Note
- 2Full control over making or selling something because you alone own or hold it.
Like holding the only key to a door, so no one gets in without you.
The family kept a monopoly on salt by owning the only mine in the valley.
Owning the single bridge gave them a monopoly over all river crossings.
Note
- 3A special right given by law that lets only one group sell or make something.
Like getting a special pass that no one else is allowed to have.
The king gave the company a monopoly to trade with the colonies.
Parliament granted them a monopoly on printing the Bible.
Similarconcession, franchise
Note
- 4The company or group that controls all selling of something in a market.
Like the one bakery in a small town that everyone must buy bread from.
For decades the railroad was the monopoly that controlled all freight in the state.
The government finally broke up the monopoly into several competing firms.
Similarmonopolist
Note
- 5The whole market that one company controls by itself.
Like a closed garden that slowly opens its gates to new visitors.
After the law changed, small sellers began to enter the monopoly.
The whole monopoly was opened to competition within a year.
Practice
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Origin
From Latin monopolium, from Greek words meaning "sole" and "to sell": so a right to be the only seller.