cannibalize
verb
Barry CommonerJohn Noble Wilford
Did you know?
During World War II, military personnel often used salvageable parts from disabled vehicles and aircraft to repair other vehicles and aircraft. This sacrifice of one thing for the sake of another of its kind must have reminded some folks of cannibalism by humans and animals because the process came to be known as cannibalizing. The armed forces of this time were also known to cannibalize—that is, to take away personnel from—units to build up other units. It didn't take long for this military slang to become civilianized. Since its demobilization, the term has been used in a variety of contexts.
Examples of cannibalize in a Sentence
Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 13 June 2024
The rush to create seemingly infinite content to feed the insatiable streaming beast was unsustainable for traditional media companies, which set up their own direct-to-consumer services and thus cannibalized already precarious box office returns and television networks.
—Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2024
After two inattentive supervisors leave a group of miners trapped underground following a methane explosion during a Valentine’s Day dance, one miner must cannibalize his deceased comrades to survive until he is freed from the shaft — a week later.
—Brooke Knisley, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2024
Over the last year, the company estimates, $4.5 billion worth of synthetic diamond sales cannibalized what could have amounted to $7 billion in natural diamond sales.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune Europe, 5 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for cannibalize 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cannibalize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Cannibalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cannibalize. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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cannibalize
verb
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