And Apple sold them by the tens of millions, while would-be rivals struggled.

Drug dealers only killed people who crossed them, and then they did it in a spectacular way to serve as a warning to would-be rivals.

That she attended 360 kaffeeklatsches and collected 13,000 individual contributions - half of them for $25 or less -cowed would-be rivals.

And would-be rivals like long-distance carriers face an unappetizing choice.

The cable TV industry, meanwhile, has filed a blizzard of objections in an attempt to stall their well-financed would-be rivals.

Dr. Eugene's "manipulation gave him a head start against his would-be rivals," the judge said.

Mr. Milosevic does not execute rivals or would-be rivals.

And yet, most surveys put him comfortably ahead of his would-be rivals.

"I'm not afraid of taking the establishment on," he said, echoing the message of his would-be Democratic rivals.

Such would-be rivals I usually managed to put off with soft words and a steady gaze, though one or two required a firmer hand.