stranglehold
Inescapable dominant position
A stranglehold is a choking grip around someone's neck, or more commonly, a position of complete and oppressive control: The company has a stranglehold on the market.
The word emphasizes that the grip is tight enough to prevent movement or escape—often suggesting the controlled party is being slowly suffocated rather than quickly defeated.
Neck-constricting restraint
- throttlePower flow controller
- chokeObstruct breathing or airflow
- gripSecure manual hold
- clutchMechanism linking engine to gearbox
grasp · squeeze · constrict · suffocate · asphyxiate · smother · stifle · gag
Oppressive, absolute governance
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- subjugationForcing into submission
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- suppressionForcible prevention or concealment
authoritarianism · persecution · exploitation · dictatorship · totalitarianism · despotism · intimidation · crackdown
Dominant group's control
- supremacyHighest rank or power
- controlAuthority to direct
- dominationSupreme authority held
- monopolyOne seller, no substitutes
grip · authority · power · command · ascendancy · sovereignty · reign · rule
chokehold
Neck-constricting restraint
clutch · grasp · squeeze · constrict · suffocate · asphyxiate · smother · stifle · gag · tighten
tyranny
Oppressive, absolute governance
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- subjugationForcing into submission
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
suppression · authoritarianism · persecution · exploitation · dictatorship · totalitarianism · despotism · intimidation · crackdown · censorship
hegemony
Dominant group's control
- supremacyHighest rank or power
- controlAuthority to direct
- dominationSupreme authority held
monopoly · grip · authority · power · command · ascendancy · sovereignty · reign · rule · mastery
submission
Yielding to another's will
- grapplingClose-quarters combat technique
- chokeholdNeck-constricting restraint
- guillotineVertical beheading apparatus
rear naked choke · anaconda · takedown · tap out · judo · mat · gi · lock · escape · reversal
- dominancedominance, dominant, supremacy, superiority, ascendancy
- power metaphorsiron fist, iron grip, reins, puppet master, pulling strings
- restrictionsban, bans, limits, limit, restrictions
- naval warfarenaval battles, naval battle, battleship, destroyer, sea battles
- monopolymonopoly, monopolization, market power, market dominance, market concentration
- controlremote control, self-control, birth control, crowd control, cruise control
strangleholdloose grip
Insecure hold on something
open hand · release · letting go · caress
strangleholdfreedom
Absence of constraint
liberation · independence · autonomy · open competition · self-determination
strangleholdrelease
To let go
liberation · freedom · letting go · loosening · unbinding