monopoly

noun

1. A situation, by legal privilege or other agreement, in which solely one party (company, cartel etc.) exclusively provides a particular product or service, dominating that market and generally exerting powerful control over it.

   “The sale of the leaves and roots was a Government monopoly, and from it the Kings of Kôr derived a large proportion of their private revenue.”

   “In 1918 a Chinese company was given a monopoly to run a service between Victoria and the districts of Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po. Five years later this monopoly was transferred to the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry Company, together with the right to run a service to Yau Ma Tei.”

   “It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.”

   “Exactly! You can’t reduce the competition when nobody is competing! You could not be describing a monopoly more clearly if you were wearing a metal top hat while driving a metal car after winning second prize in a beauty contest!”

   “Ciudadanos is keen on fighting monopolies and on vigorous Scandinavian-style labour reforms to help the unemployed retrain and find jobs.”

2. An exclusive control over the trade or production of a commodity or service through exclusive possession.

   “A land monopoly renders its holder(s) nearly almighty in an agricultural society.”

   “Монополисти́ческое облада́ние важне́йшими исто́чниками сыры́х материа́лов стра́шно увели́чило власть кру́пного капита́ла и обостри́ло противоре́чие ме́жду картелли́рованной и некартелли́рованной промы́шленностью.”

   “My great grandfather had the monopoly of eggs in all of China and my grandmother was super rich living in a mansion when the cultural revolution happened and communism took everything away.”

3. The privilege granting the exclusive right to exert such control.

   “Granting monopolies in concession constitutes a market-conform alternative to taxation for the state, while the crown sometimes bestowed a monopoly as an outrageous gift.”

4. (metonymically)The market thus controlled.
5. (metonymically)The holder (person, company or other) of such market domination in one of the above manners.

name

1. A board game in which players use play money to buy and trade properties, with the objective of forcing opponents into bankruptcy.

   “I was playing Monopoly with my friends at 12:00am last night.”

   “In America, where classics like Monopoly dominate, Eurogames still have an avidly geeky following.”