From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisholigopolyol‧i‧gop‧o‧ly /ˌɒləˈɡɒpəli $ ˌɑːləˈɡɑː-/ noun (plural oligopolies) [countable] technical the control of all or most of a business activity by very few companies, so that other organizations cannot easily compete with them
Examples from the Corpus
oligopoly• An oligopoly exists in a market with just a few sellers.• It is apparently a competitive oligopoly.• As a consequence of this trend, defensive mergers took place to protect local oligopolies.• The alarming increase in media oligopolies has led to a subsequent decline in any need for public accountability on the part of media corporations.• What we do in this chapter is the reverse: we focus on the implications of oligopoly.• By controlling the oligopolies the state can direct aggregate performance.• The oligopolies will not be divided into small-scale firms.• For some time, since the 1920s, it had been a conservative, uncompetitive oligopoly.From Longman Business Dictionaryoligopolyol‧i‧gop‧o‧ly /ˌɒlɪˈgɒpəliˌɑːlɪˈgɑː-, ˌoʊ-/ noun (plural oligopolies) [countable, uncountable]ECONOMICS a situation in which a very small number of companies produce a particular thing or provide a particular service, or the group of companies itselfCompetition authorities would not approve of the creation of a defence oligopoly. → compare monopolyOrigin oligopoly (1800-1900) Greek oligos “few” + English monopoly 