cannibalizes

present tense third-person singular of cannibalize
as in uses
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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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cannibalizes Terrified of losing speculative momentum, Google threw its immense cash reserves into an arms race that actively cannibalizes its own business model. Sunil Sharan, Fortune, 27 May 2026 To some extent, the cool commercial logic of the fashion industry—which transforms beautiful, original works into cheaply reproducible goods, season after season—echoes that of Hollywood, which regularly cannibalizes and, yes, franchises its greatest successes. Justin Chang, New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2026 But if the workforce can’t scale with those policies, the policy just cannibalizes itself. Andrew Leahey, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cannibalizes
Verb
  • The system uses natural ammonia as its working refrigerant, completely overcoming synthetic compounds like HCFCs and HFCs that contribute to global warming and ozone depletion.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Hisense uses different operating systems in different regions for some of these TVs, but happily the new Dolby Vision 2 update will still work regardless of whether your UX, UR9, UR8 or U7 uses the Google TV or Hisense VIDAA smart platform.
    John Archer, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • At the same time, this filtering recycles nutrients back into the water.
    Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 30 July 2026
  • Recipients MacroCycle Technologies and Eastman Kodak will be working on their project around SolvoGenesis, a process that chemically recycles textile waste into polyester resin.
    Sarah Jones, Footwear News, 27 July 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Cannibalizes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cannibalizes. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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