the setting of prices by agreement among producers and distributors
another name for price control resale price maintenance
First recorded in 1945–50
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The quintessential image of price fixing is a secret deal made between competitors over cigars in a smoky back room,” attorneys wrote in the complaint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Some prospective IPO investors feared that Mastercard could ultimately be on the hook for many billions of dollars’ worth of legal liabilities related to allegations of price fixing.
From MarketWatch ● May 25, 2026
Criminal antitrust cases are typically reserved for allegations of price fixing, market collusion or competitors rigging their bids to customers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
While the suggestion of price fixing isn’t new—the companies have denied wrongdoing in the past—the fresh demand for a federal probe signals both political and regulatory pressure for the group.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
Undaunted by failure in its first attempt to cope with the situation, the General Assembly made several attempts at price fixing.
From Tobacco in Colonial Virginia "The Sovereign Remedy" by Herndon, G. Melvin
It accused tennis' governing bodies in the US, the UK and the EU of "horizontal price-fixing" their prize money, saying what the players earn "lags far behind" other athletes.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
Recently, the Department of Justice announced it was investigating whether fertilizer companies in the U.S. have engaged in years of price-fixing.
From Salon ● May 15, 2026
In a 2022 interview about the chicken price-fixing case on Markus’s “For the Defense” podcast, Pollack said he honed his courtroom style by watching other lawyers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
Meanwhile, Cal-Maine and other egg producers are the targets of lawsuits filed in federal court in Indiana, alleging price-fixing External link in response to HPAI—an unanticipated disease-related risk.
From Barron's ● Dec. 11, 2025
Price-cutting in oil, threatening ruin to those engaged in the industry, as early as 1879, led a number of companies in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia to unite in price-fixing.
From History of the United States by Beard, Charles A. (Charles Austin)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
