chokehold

American  

[chohk-hohld] / ˈtʃoʊkˌhoʊld /

Or choke hold

noun

1. a restraining hold in which one person encircles the neck of another in a viselike grip with the arm, usually approaching from behind.

   The suspect was put in a chokehold and was gasping for breath.

2. a stifling grip; stranglehold.

   a company that once had a chokehold over the PC market.

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chokehold British  

/ ˈtʃəʊkˌhəʊld /

noun

1. the act of holding a person's neck across the windpipe, esp from behind using one arm

2. complete power or control

   the chokehold the mob has had on the town

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Example Sentences

This represents a massive shift from years past, when rock-bottom mortgage rates had the housing market in a chokehold.

From MarketWatch

Within days, American industries from defense to electric vehicles faced paralysis, and the chokehold affected several other critical sectors: semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, chemicals.

From The Wall Street Journal

The film will be released by Neon, who have had a chokehold on Cannes in recent years, so that makes the festival a likely a place for Refn to unleash “Hell.”

From Los Angeles Times

Jacqueline Harpman’s “I Who Have Never Known Men,” recently reissued, is a dystopian story that had an unexpected chokehold on me.

From The Wall Street Journal

But China currently accounts for roughly one-third of global chip manufacturing — and also possesses a chokehold on critical minerals, such as gallium and germanium, that make chip manufacturing possible.

From MarketWatch