Definition of "monopoly" []

• Exclusive control by one group of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service: "Monopoly frequently ... arises from government support or from collusive agreements among individuals” ( Milton Friedman). (noun)
• Law A right granted by a government giving exclusive control over a specified commercial activity to a single party. (noun)
• A company or group having exclusive control over a commercial activity. (noun)
• A commodity or service so controlled. (noun)
• Exclusive possession or control: arrogantly claims to have a monopoly on the truth. (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.

• "Any assignment which does not convey to the assignee the entire and unqualified monopoly which the patentee holds in the territory specified, or an undivided interest in the entire _monopoly, _ is a mere license."
• "There are two evils of our present railway system, however, which are not chargeable to monopoly, but to the _attempt to defeat monopoly_, and which are important to our discussion."
• "I know that, but the term monopoly is used much more loosely outside of economic textbooks."