A market situation where a small number of large companies control most of the supply of a product or service.
From Greek "oligos" meaning "few" and "polein" (to sell), patterned after "monopoly." It literally means "selling by a few."
Phone service, airlines, and internet providers are often oligopolies: you feel like you have a choice, but it’s really just a few giants. Oligopolies can quietly shape prices, quality, and even politics, because power is concentrated in so few hands.
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