cannibalize

[kan-uh-buh-lahyz]

verb (used with object), can·ni·bal·ized, can·ni·bal·iz·ing.

to remove parts, equipment, assets, employees, etc., from (an item, product, or business) in order to use them in another: to cannibalize old airplanes for replacement parts.

to cut into; cause to become reduced; diminish: New products introduced in the next six months will cannibalize sales from established lines.

verb (used without object), can·ni·bal·ized, can·ni·bal·iz·ing.

to act cannibalistically; practice cannibalism.

Also especially British, can·ni·bal·ise.

Origin of cannibalize

First recorded in 1940–45; cannibal + -ize

Related formscan·ni·bal·i·za·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for cannibalise

cannibalize

cannibalise

verb

(tr) to use (serviceable parts from one machine or vehicle) to repair another, esp as an alternative to using new parts

Derived Formscannibalization or cannibalisation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cannibalise

cannibalize

1798 (in Burke's memoirs), figurative, and meaning "be perverted into cannibalism," from cannibal + -ize. Meaning "take parts from one construction and use them in another" is from 1943, originally of military equipment. Related: Cannibalized; cannibalizing.