as in to use
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 cannibalize
Strategy was deprioritized or cannibalized within bloated portfolios.
—
Sindhya Valloppillil, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
The bottom line: The music industry bottomed out in 2014, not because streaming was cannibalizing the industry's growth, but because the industry wasn't addressing the consumer's need for streaming fast enough.
—Sara Fischer, Axios, 18 Mar. 2025
Traditional media is just being cannibalized internally.
—Steve Baltin, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2025
Some box office pundits note that some of the films opening this weekend should have been spaced out so as not to cannibalize each other (i.e., Amateur versus Warfare, or King of Kings versus Fathom’s ongoing viewing of episodes from season five of The Chosen: The Last Supper).
—Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cannibalize
Sindhya Valloppillil, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
The bottom line: The music industry bottomed out in 2014, not because streaming was cannibalizing the industry's growth, but because the industry wasn't addressing the consumer's need for streaming fast enough.
—Sara Fischer, Axios, 18 Mar. 2025
Traditional media is just being cannibalized internally.
—Steve Baltin, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2025
Some box office pundits note that some of the films opening this weekend should have been spaced out so as not to cannibalize each other (i.e., Amateur versus Warfare, or King of Kings versus Fathom’s ongoing viewing of episodes from season five of The Chosen: The Last Supper).
—Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cannibalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cannibalize
Verb
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Athit Perawongmetha | Reuters China is devising more ways for foreign institutions to use the yuan, as international confidence in the U.S. dollar falters.—
Lee Ying Shan,Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
25 June 2025
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Help customers understand how your compliance actually protects them and unlocks their ability to use your product with confidence.—
Sal Rehmetullah,
Forbes.com,
24 June 2025
Verb
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Yet much of the infrastructure from which these magnets would be recycled is also in China.—
Saleem H. Ali,
Forbes.com,
28 June 2025
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Courtesy of Fairphone Fairphone says the new device is made with more than 50 percent fair and recycled materials, including cobalt sourced through the Fair Cobalt Alliance, fair gold, silver, and tungsten, and recycled aluminum and rare earth metals.—
Julian Chokkattu,
Wired News,
28 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cannibalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cannibalize. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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