as in using
to remove parts from a machine, car, etc., to repair or build another one
He cannibalized one washing machine to fix another. Many parts of the engine were cannibalized from older cars.
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Recent Examples of cannibalizing
These films may be self-cannibalizing, and do little for Disney’s creative legacy.
—
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 19 Mar. 2025
Sometimes this means cannibalizing aspects of older songs.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2025
College sports at the highest level is cannibalizing itself with the transfer portal and Name, Image & Likeness cash flow that has brought tumult and turmoil to top programs in football and basketball, where the money is made and where athletes now chase their share.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2025
Market leaders must be willing to challenge their own business models, even at the risk of cannibalizing existing revenue streams.
—David Michels, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
To fund his war machine, Putin has been throwing the living room furniture into the furnace, cannibalizing productive sectors and relying on unsustainable, record deficit spending.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian, TIME, 26 Feb. 2025
Nokia’s reluctance to fully embrace the smartphone revolution, due to fear of cannibalizing existing products, cost them their market leadership.
—Margie Warrell, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025
Putin’s military production is cannibalizing his country’s civilian economy.
—Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2025
Putin has cut reinvestment in its industrial base and seized control of much private enterprise, cannibalizing its once mighty industrial strength.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian, TIME, 21 Jan. 2025
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 19 Mar. 2025
Sometimes this means cannibalizing aspects of older songs.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2025
College sports at the highest level is cannibalizing itself with the transfer portal and Name, Image & Likeness cash flow that has brought tumult and turmoil to top programs in football and basketball, where the money is made and where athletes now chase their share.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2025
Market leaders must be willing to challenge their own business models, even at the risk of cannibalizing existing revenue streams.
—David Michels, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
To fund his war machine, Putin has been throwing the living room furniture into the furnace, cannibalizing productive sectors and relying on unsustainable, record deficit spending.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian, TIME, 26 Feb. 2025
Nokia’s reluctance to fully embrace the smartphone revolution, due to fear of cannibalizing existing products, cost them their market leadership.
—Margie Warrell, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025
Putin’s military production is cannibalizing his country’s civilian economy.
—Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2025
Putin has cut reinvestment in its industrial base and seized control of much private enterprise, cannibalizing its once mighty industrial strength.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian, TIME, 21 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cannibalizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cannibalizing. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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