Meaning

(transitive) To eat (parts of) another of one's own species..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To eat (parts of) another of one's own species.
2. (transitive) To remove parts of (a machine, etc) for use in other similar machines.
3. (transitive, business) To reduce sales or market share (for one of one's own products) by introducing another.
4. Rework old material; rehash.

Example Sentences

The female black widow spider is known to cannibalise the male.

to cannibalize an old laptop for parts

When the attack ceased they managed to cannibalize parts to get one truck going and set off for the rendezvous with Fraser, only to find nobody there.

According to our correspondent, at least one of the Type 2s has had to be cannibalised to facilitate repairs, as spares are often in short supply.

iPad mini to cannibalize 1M full-size iPad sales.

When the album succeeds, such as on the swaggering, Queen-esque “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us,” it does so on The Darkness’ own terms—that is, as a random ’80s-cliché generator. But with so many tired, lazy callbacks to its own threadbare catalog (including “Love Is Not The Answer,” a watery echo of the epic “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” from 2003’s Permission To Land), Hot Cakes marks the point where The Darkness has stopped cannibalizing the golden age of stadium rock and simply started cannibalizing itself. And, despite Hawkins’ inveterate crotch-grabbing, there was never that much meat there to begin with.

Word Forms

• cannibalises
• cannibalising
• cannibalised
• cannibalize

Synonyms for cannibalise

Related Words

When Should You Use Cannibalise?

Use cannibalise when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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