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
Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2025
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, 11 Feb. 2025
That means that to profit and not cannibalize console and PC sales, publishers need to sell games for much higher up-front costs than mobile players are accustomed to.
—Ars Technica, 18 Dec. 2024
But there is no evidence that the people who cannibalized them actually killed their victims, implying that the cannibalism was actually a form of funerary ritual, the study authors said.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 16 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Cannibalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cannibalize. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.
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cannibalize
verb
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