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.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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 cannibalizing
Executives said prediction markets aren't cannibalizing its business.
—
Jim Cramer, CNBC, 27 Feb. 2026
In other words, the risk of cannibalizing the ratings at the local stations likely outweighs the benefits of expanding the race’s streaming reach.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 20 Feb. 2026
American health care costs are cannibalizing the economy.
—Washington Post, 4 Feb. 2026
The Post’s second bet is on the viability of text at a moment when fewer people are reading articles online, and as tech platforms are cannibalizing search traffic and directing users away from news.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 2 Feb. 2026
Landlords are lowering rents, raising concessions, and competing fiercely for tenants, even if that means cannibalizing older and less competitive developments.
—Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 22 Jan. 2026
At the same time, its recent performance has allayed fears that broadening its AI offerings meant cannibalizing revenue from its core search business.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 17 Dec. 2025
Devoting more funding to denial capabilities risks cannibalizing resources for military platforms more capable of threatening punishment, such as stealthy bombers and submarines armed with cruise missiles.
—Zack Cooper, Foreign Affairs, 6 Nov. 2025
Ducatillion described the agreement with Pimkie and the promotion of Lhomme as a smokescreen to make the company appear supportive of the textiles and fashion industry, while simultaneously cannibalizing it.
—Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2025
Jim Cramer, CNBC, 27 Feb. 2026
In other words, the risk of cannibalizing the ratings at the local stations likely outweighs the benefits of expanding the race’s streaming reach.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 20 Feb. 2026
American health care costs are cannibalizing the economy.
—Washington Post, 4 Feb. 2026
The Post’s second bet is on the viability of text at a moment when fewer people are reading articles online, and as tech platforms are cannibalizing search traffic and directing users away from news.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 2 Feb. 2026
Landlords are lowering rents, raising concessions, and competing fiercely for tenants, even if that means cannibalizing older and less competitive developments.
—Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 22 Jan. 2026
At the same time, its recent performance has allayed fears that broadening its AI offerings meant cannibalizing revenue from its core search business.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 17 Dec. 2025
Devoting more funding to denial capabilities risks cannibalizing resources for military platforms more capable of threatening punishment, such as stealthy bombers and submarines armed with cruise missiles.
—Zack Cooper, Foreign Affairs, 6 Nov. 2025
Ducatillion described the agreement with Pimkie and the promotion of Lhomme as a smokescreen to make the company appear supportive of the textiles and fashion industry, while simultaneously cannibalizing it.
—Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cannibalizing
Verb
-
The government wasn’t using autonomous weapons and claimed no mass-surveillance plans—but for a company to ask for those assurances in writing was to sign its own death warrant.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
-
To resolve this issue, the team developed a criterion that estimates the overlap between the prepared input state and the true ground state using the energy and energy variance of the initial state.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
And for a while, Chase was like spending kind of obscene amounts of money like recycling the metal and the thing.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Swalwell’s campaign accused Steyer of recycling talking points from right-wing filmmaker Joel Gilbert — known for documentaries falsely claiming Barack Obama is a Marxist and Paul McCartney is dead — who sued Swalwell in January over the residency claims.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cannibalizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cannibalizing. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
