cannibalize

cannibalize
cannibalize can‧ni‧bal‧ize [ˈkænbəlaɪz] also cannibalise verb [transitive]
1. MARKETING if one of a company's new products cannibalizes an older one, it takes sales away from it:

• Healthy Choice was a best seller without cannibalizing sales of its other frozen food brands.

2. MANUFACTURING to take parts from one machine to use in another, for example to repair it:

• By the time the replacement part arrived, the helicopter had been cannibalized for spare parts.

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cannibalize UK US (UK ALSO cannibalise) /ˈkænɪbəlaɪz/ verb [T]
► MARKETING, COMMERCE to cause a reduction in the sales of an existing product or service by starting to sell a new product or service: »

They hope to sell 5 million of their new game machines, but those sales will cannibalize the sales of their last product.

► PRODUCTION to take parts from a machine or vehicle to make or repair another machine or vehicle: »

Trucks have been cannibalized to keep others running.

cannibalization (UK also cannibalisation) noun [U]
► »

All newspapers today suffer from cannibalization, whereby sales of physical copies are undermined by their own online versions.


Financial and business terms. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • cannibalize — v. i. & t. same as {cannibalise}. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • cannibalize — by 1798, figurative, from CANNIBAL (Cf. cannibal) + IZE (Cf. ize). Meaning take parts from one construction and use them in another is from 1943, originally of military equipment. Related: Cannibalized; cannibalizing …   Etymology dictionary

  • cannibalize — (Amer.) can·ni·bal·ize || kænɪbÉ™laɪz v. take parts from one machine to repair another; eat human flesh (also cannibalise) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • cannibalize — (also cannibalise) ► VERB 1) use (a machine) as a source of spare parts for another, similar machine. 2) (of an animal) eat (an animal of its own kind). DERIVATIVES cannibalization noun …   English terms dictionary

  • cannibalize — ☆ cannibalize [kan′ə bəlīz΄ ] vt., vi. cannibalized, cannibalizing 1. to strip (old or worn equipment) of parts for use in other units to help keep them in service 2. to take any or all personnel or components from (one organization) for use in… …   English World dictionary

  • cannibalize — cannibalization, n. /kan euh beuh luyz /, v., cannibalized, cannibalizing. v.t. 1. to subject to cannibalism. 2. to remove parts, equipment, assets, employees, etc., from (an item, product, or business) in order to use them in another: to… …   Universalium

  • cannibalize — verb a) To consume another of ones own type or kind. The female black widow spider is known to cannibalize the male. b) To remove parts of (a machine, etc) for use in other similar machines. When the attack ceased they managed to cannibalize… …   Wiktionary

  • cannibalize — [[t]kæ̱nɪbəlaɪz[/t]] cannibalizes, cannibalizing, cannibalized (in BRIT, also use cannibalise) 1) VERB If you cannibalize something, you take it to pieces and use it to make something else. [V n] They cannibalized damaged planes for the parts. 2) …   English dictionary

  • cannibalize — UK [ˈkænɪbəlaɪz] / US [ˈkænɪb(ə)lˌaɪz] verb [transitive] Word forms cannibalize : present tense I/you/we/they cannibalize he/she/it cannibalizes present participle cannibalizing past tense cannibalized past participle cannibalized 1) to take… …   English dictionary

  • cannibalize — cannibalise cannibalise, cannibalize cannibalizev. i. to eat human flesh. Syn: practice cannibalism. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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