Definition of "chaebol" [chaebol]

• A conglomerate of businesses, usually owned by a single family, especially in Korea. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Much of South Korea's wealth is concentrated in just a few dozen large conglomerates, known as chaebol, such as the Samsung group."
• "The Japanese call it keiretsu; the Koreans say chaebol; the Russian word is semibankirshchina; and the Americans label the cozy arrangement among industrialists, bankers and government officials crony capitalism."
• "SK Telecom's interest in Hynix shows how South Korean business conglomerates, known as chaebol, are making investments that aren't in the best interests of shareholders, Cochran said."