cornering the market

Verb

corner the market (third-person singular simple present corners the market, present participle cornering the market, simple past and past participle cornered the market)

1. (idiomatic) To monopolize a resource or commodity, as with the intent of driving up prices.
   • "Why, there ain't going to be any wheat left in Chicago by May! If I get in now and buy a long line of cash wheat, where are all these fellows who've sold short going to get it to deliver to me?" . . . Jadwin sprang forward, gripping the broker by the shoulder. "Sam," he shouted, ". . . we can...1903, Frank Norris, chapter 7, in The Pit
2. (broadly, idiomatic) To have exclusive possession; to possess something to a high or excessive degree.
   • It will not do to say that the Irish have a monopoly on stupidity, yet there have been times when I thought they nearly cornered the market.1916, Elbert Hubbard, “Vol. 12: Great Scientists-John Tyndall”, in Little Journeys