stranglehold
/ˈstræŋɡəlˌhoʊld/
noun
- Complete or overwhelming control over a situation, organization, or market, preventing freedom or competition.
- The monopoly had a stranglehold on the country's energy supply.
- Fear can have a stranglehold on your ability to make decisions.
- The company's stranglehold on the market made it impossible for new businesses to compete.
- A wrestling hold in which one arm is pressed against an opponent's throat, restricting breathing.
- The wrestler put his opponent in a stranglehold and won the match.
- He escaped from the stranglehold just in time.
- The referee stopped the fight when the stranglehold became too dangerous.