cannibalism

noun

can·ni·bal·ism | \ ˈka-nə-bə-ˌli-zəm

Definition of cannibalism

1 : the usually ritualistic eating of human flesh by a human being

2 : the eating of the flesh of an animal by another animal of the same kind

3 : an act of cannibalizing something

Other Words from cannibalism Example Sentences Learn More about cannibalism

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of cannibalism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

A year before the conviction, Gardephe presided over the headline-grabbing related trial of a police officer accused of plotting abductions and cannibalism. — Larry Neumeister, The Seattle Times, "Car mechanic gets 7 years in prison for kidnap-killing plot," 24 July 2018 And there are heartwarming touches, despite a plot that is muddied by sci-fi mumbo-jumbo about cannibalism. — Michael O’sullivan, kansascity, "‘How to Talk to Girls at Parties’: Offbeat sci-fi love story works," 31 May 2018 This suggests that there were primarily social and cultural reasons people resorted to cannibalism. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Here are your 2018 Ig Nobel Prize winners," 13 Sep. 2018 Raw’s cannibalism gets its main character into all kinds of trouble. — Jacob Kastrenakes, The Verge, "New trailers: Detective Pikachu, Toy Story 4, and more," 17 Nov. 2018 So this could be seen as a form of cannibalism by space aliens. — Fox News, "Psychologist says Americans are suffering from 'Trump Anxiety Disorder'," 31 July 2018 Later, bones were found that showed signs of cannibalism, and the ships were located at the bottom of the ocean in just the past 10 years. — Todd Vanderwerff, Vox, "The 7 best TV shows of 2018," 26 Dec. 2018 There’s a really powerful category of recent films about teenage girls coming of age through cannibalism, vampirism, or other body-mutating horrors. — Jacob Kastrenakes, The Verge, "New trailers: Detective Pikachu, Toy Story 4, and more," 17 Nov. 2018 Nutrition Laugh: James Cole, for calculating that the caloric intake from a human-cannibalism diet is significantly lower than the caloric intake from most other traditional meat diets. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Here are your 2018 Ig Nobel Prize winners," 13 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cannibalism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.