cannibalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to subject to cannibalism.
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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.
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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)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cannibalizesimple
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cannibalizessimple
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have cannibalizedperfect
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has cannibalizedperfect
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am cannibalizingprogressive
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are cannibalizingprogressive
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is cannibalizingprogressive
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have been cannibalizingperfect progressive
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has been cannibalizingperfect progressive
Past
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cannibalizedsimple
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had cannibalizedperfect
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was cannibalizingprogressive
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were cannibalizingprogressive
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had been cannibalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cannibalize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When executed carefully, deploying Disney IP in one flywheel node can actually increase demand in the others, not cannibalize it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Ships break down, sailors have to cannibalize parts, and the fleet fires weapons faster than the nation can replenish them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
The idea that AI won’t cannibalize artists and their work on a massive scale is refreshingly utopian, but in many ways so was the fair itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026
He also doesn’t think the Big Arch will significantly cannibalize sales of other popular burgers, such as the Quarter Pounder and Big Mac.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 30, 2026
I dread the time when I shall have to cannibalize the recorder.
From The Issahar Artifacts by Bone, Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin)
They think investors will be focused on whether Foundayo cannibalizes any demand for Lily’s other weight-loss drug Zepbound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
For Meta, there’s risk that Threads cannibalizes Instagram’s revenue over Twitter’s.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2023
Stuff enough gadgets and appliances into a second kitchen and at some point it cannibalizes the main one.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 26, 2022
The theater group’s Sunday statement rejected the notion that the simultaneous releases make financial sense for Disney, arguing that Disney+ revenue cannibalizes later video-on-demand sales.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2021
“It may be better that Telenor cannibalizes itself than someone else doing it.”
From Reuters ● Mar. 1, 2018
This time around, yield-sharing between platforms is more common, which has reduced overall outflows but also cannibalized off-platform holdings, Engel explained.
From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026
He said that 24 of the last 42 net new U.S. warehouse openings were affecting Costco’s existing markets, “with many of these cannibalized locations being extremely high-volume.”
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 5, 2026
“It dwindled down to 16 functioning buses, and the rest were being cannibalized in order to maintain a minimum level of functioning buses.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025
Without Venu as a threat, sporting still constitutes one of the few live-TV options that hasn’t been completely cannibalized by streaming just yet.
From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2024
Unfortunately for Holly, in her haste she’d grabbed one of the helmets cannibalized by Artemis Fowl.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
Some publishers say podcasts are a double-edged sword—they may be cannibalizing nonfiction reading, but can also serve as a useful sales driver in a fragmented media market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
And rather than cannibalizing demand for classical computing, the firm expects demand to ramp up, to the tune of $100 billion by 2040.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
But it must be actively defeated; it would be a grave mistake to assume it will dissipate after losing momentum or cannibalizing itself.
From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2026
In previous investment cycles, Meta would launch new formats to keep up with competitors at the cost of cannibalizing its existing products.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 7, 2025
And she had started cannibalizing parts of her city to add on to its height.
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
