[f. prec. vb.] A combination, conspiracy, plot. Obs. exc. as in b.
1610. W. Folkingham, Art Survey, Author to Wk. A great Monarch hath those dire Combines, Hatcht in the Heart.
b. U. S. colloq. A combination of persons in furtherance of their own interests, commercial or political; a private combination for fraudulent ends.
1887. Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 16 of the members … have formed what the New York Aldermen would call a ‘combine,’ and demand $10,000 apiece before they will vote.
1888. Evening Post (N. Y.), 6 March, 4. An anti-Platt combine composed of seven senators.
1888. A. Roberts, U. S. Consular Rep., Sept., 401. The market being controlled by the coal combine.
