From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstrangleholdstran‧gle‧hold /ˈstræŋɡəlhəʊld $ -hoʊld/ noun [countable]1CONTROL[usually singular]complete control over a situation, organization etcstranglehold onJust a few firms have a stranglehold on the market for this software.break/loosen the stranglehold of somebody (=stop someone having complete control)2BREATHEa strong hold around someone’s neck that stops them from breathingExamples from the Corpusstranglehold• The balance of payments has become a stranglehold.• That marks a victory for Microsoft and breaks a stranglehold that Netscape was putting on the telecommunications industry.• For years, two giantrecording companies have had a stranglehold on the CDmarket.• All is slanted to maintaining the Establishmentstranglehold on vast tracts of land for their own selfishplaygrounds.• He is down, but his stranglehold on the retailjewelleryscenemeans that no one should say he is out.• SatelliteTV should at last break the stranglehold of the big national TV channels.• Farmers with reasonablesizedholdings were in a matter of years freed from the stranglehold of money lenders.• Even now, Marie could sense that the stranglehold of her rage had been broken.stranglehold on• a four-decade stranglehold on powerFrom Longman Business Dictionarystrangleholdstran‧gle‧hold /ˈstræŋgəlˌhəʊld-ˌhoʊld/ noun [countable usually singular] disapprovingcomplete control over a particular market, industry, or situationstranglehold on/overThe new legislation willbreak their stranglehold on the industry, and allow competition on a more even footing. → comparemonopoly