The company's aggressive patent litigation was intended to ______ competition from emerging software start-ups.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. stifle
- Step 1: To 'stifle' means to restrain, suppress, smother, or prevent something from happening or developing. Firms utilize predatory litigation to suffocate smaller competitors before they can gain market share. Answer: stifle. Why not the others: "foster collaboration" means to encourage, nurture, and promote mutual cooperative development; "catalyze enterprise" means to cause an action or process to begin, accelerate, or thrive; "bolster innovation" means to support, strengthen, or prop up creative technological development.
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More Idiomatic Collocations and Dependent Prepositions questions
- The government's heavy-handed attempts to suppress dissent served only to ______ existing civil unrest.
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- The defense attorney argued that the evidence presented by the prosecution was purely ______.
- The young diplomat was known for her remarkable ______; she could de-escalate shouting matches with gentle humor.
- The board decided to ______ the controversial restructuring plan until after the annual shareholders meeting.
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