cannibalism
[kan-uh-buh-liz-uh m]
- the eating of human flesh by another human being.
- the eating of the flesh of an animal by another animal of its own kind.
- the ceremonial eating of human flesh or parts of the human body for magical or religious purposes, as to acquire the power or skill of a person recently killed.
- the act of pecking flesh from a live fowl by a member of the same flock.
- the removal of parts, equipment, assets, or employees from one product, item, or business in order to use them in another.
- the acquisition and absorption of smaller companies by a large corporation or conglomerate.
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Origin of cannibalism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cannibalistic
Contemporary Examples
She was chatty and casual, and expressed her abstract concern that American democracy is on a cannibalistic downward slide.
Historical Examples
At the cannibalistic comparison, Schomberg muttered a faint, sickly "don't."
VictoryJoseph Conrad
Do not think them so cannibalistic as report has it, my dears.
Polly's Business VentureLillian Elizabeth Roy
Larry said that he didnt know but it was cannibalistic to eat so many hearts.
Betty Lee, SeniorHarriet Pyne Grove
There is first their cannibalistic propensity to be reckoned with.
SpidersCecil Warburton
Often they were cannibalistic, boiling their victims in huge clay kettles.
Lost in the Wilds of BrazilJames H. Foster
cannibalism
- the act of eating human flesh or the flesh of one's own kind
- savage and inhuman cruelty
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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 cannibalistic
cannibalism
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper