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

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One woman discussed discovering her father was into cannibalism. — Trevor Fraser, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Kevin Allison gets Risk-y in Orlando," 8 June 2018 Only five returned alive and rumors of cannibalism dogged them for the rest of their lives. — Anchorage Daily News, "In ‘To the Ends of the Earth,’ an ambitious attempt to encompass era of polar exploration," 7 July 2018 But that argument is tough to reconcile with the fact that Facebook’s own internal guidelines ban so very many bad things, from cannibalism to infant abuse. — Issie Lapowsky, WIRED, "Tusks, Horns, and Claws: The Fight to Dismantle the Facebook Animal Parts Bazaar," 5 June 2018 Raft of the Medusa JAY-Z steps briefly in front of Théodore Géricault’s extraordinary Raft of the Medusa (1818-1819) a painting based on the true events of a shipwreck involving sharks and cannibalism. — Peter Mikelbank, PEOPLE.com, "Inside Beyoncé and JAY-Z's 'Apes—': A Guide to All the Art in the Epic Music Video," 20 June 2018 His trial involved testimony from witnesses who said that he or his soldiers killed civilians, raped women and engaged in cannibalism. — Washington Post, "Two deputies fatally shot at restaurant," 20 Apr. 2018 Jabateh, 51, of East Lansdowne, fought against Taylor’s NPFL and was accused of committing or overseeing horrific acts of murder, rape, enslavement, and cannibalism. — Jeremy Roebuck, Philly.com, "Jurors picked for trial of Delco man accused of role in Liberia war crimes," 11 June 2018 In these accounts, cannibalism occurred in faraway lands. — Pallavi Kottamasu, BostonGlobe.com, "Were cannibals really so bad?," 2 June 2018 Brazil’s animal protein association warned that about 1 billion chickens and 20 million pigs may die in the country in the next few days due to the lack of feed, while some creatures could resort to cannibalism. — Jeffrey T. Lewis, WSJ, "Brazil Calls in Military as Truck Drivers Defy Union Agreement With Government," 25 May 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.