as in to use
to remove parts from a machine, car, etc., to repair or build another one
He cannibalized one washing machine to fix another. Many parts of the engine were cannibalized from older cars.
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Recent Examples of cannibalize
Super Mario Kart Photo: Courtesy of Nintendo Nintendo has been reluctant to import the Nintendo 64 library onto Switch Online in the way it’s cannibalized its NES and SNES offerings, and that means Mario Kart 64 isn’t available on the platform.
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Luke Winkie, Vulture, 18 June 2025
Free platforms like YouTube and radio continued to cannibalize premium subscriber growth.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 27 Mar. 2025
To avoid cannibalizing each other’s business, Resnick’s restaurants each have their own culinary lanes, but all of them share the same DNA.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 June 2025
The Hubble Space Telescope's recent deep-dive into Andromeda has been able to track the disorder in M31 that the merger left in its wake: streams of stars cannibalized from the galaxy eaten by M31 and producing a burst of star formation.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cannibalize
Luke Winkie, Vulture, 18 June 2025
Free platforms like YouTube and radio continued to cannibalize premium subscriber growth.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 27 Mar. 2025
To avoid cannibalizing each other’s business, Resnick’s restaurants each have their own culinary lanes, but all of them share the same DNA.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 June 2025
The Hubble Space Telescope's recent deep-dive into Andromeda has been able to track the disorder in M31 that the merger left in its wake: streams of stars cannibalized from the galaxy eaten by M31 and producing a burst of star formation.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cannibalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cannibalize
Verb
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The mobile booking facility — something typically used during civil unrest, according to Thiel — will not entirely free up officers, but should make arrests and citations faster, Thiel and Johnson said.—
David Clarey,
jsonline.com,
9 Aug. 2025
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When a post violates those guidelines, Moonshot will file formal reports and use the team to lean on companies to expedite the removal or censorship of that post.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The study also calls for greater support for the informal waste-picking sector in certain parts of the world and more investment in waste management and recycling infrastructure and services.—
Jamie Hailstone,
Forbes.com,
16 Aug. 2025
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How cigarette butts are recycled into road material The recycling process involves several steps: 1.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
16 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cannibalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cannibalize. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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