cannibalize

[kan-uh-buh-lahyz]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cannibalize ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

RELATED WORDS

dismantle, disassemble

Nearby words

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

Examples from the Web for cannibalize

But I do, so I thought “why would I cannibalize those ideas into a book?”
Parks and Recreation’s Aziz Ansari Is 30 Years Old and Writing a Book About Modern Love|Abby Haglage|November 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I dread the time when I shall have to cannibalize the recorder.
The Issahar Artifacts|Jesse Franklin Bone

British Dictionary definitions for cannibalize

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 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.