cannibalizing
Stripping for components
Cannibalizing is taking parts from one thing to sustain another of the same kind.
Mechanics cannibalize old cars for spare parts.
Companies worry that new products will cannibalize sales from existing ones—eating into their own market share.
The word extends the gruesome image of consuming one's own kind to any situation where you harvest from the same category you're trying to preserve: They've been cannibalizing the old servers to keep the network running.
Consuming animal tissue
- consumingUsing up entirely
- devouringEating greedily and quickly
- feedingGiving food to
- predationHunting and consuming prey
carnivorous · bloodthirsty · survival · starvation · desperation · famine · extremity · trapped
Recovering discarded or damaged goods
- strippingRemoving outer layers
- harvestingGathering mature crops
- reclaimingTaking possession again
- scavengingGathering discarded or dead material
dismantling · reusing · extracting · recovering · components · junkyard · rebuilding · refurbishing
Not allowed
- ghoulishFascinated by death grotesquely
- macabreDisturbing, death-obsessed
- gruesomeCausing horror and disgust
- morbidUnhealthily drawn to darkness
barbaric · savage · monstrous · ritualistic · heinous · atrocious · inhuman · tribal
Weakening by covert means
- competingContending for victory
- dilutingLessening strength by mixing
- encroachingGradually intruding on territory
- undercuttingCharging less than rivals
flesh-eating
Consuming animal tissue
predation · carnivorous · bloodthirsty · survival · starvation · desperation · famine · extremity · trapped · Donner Party
salvaging
Recovering discarded or damaged goods
- strippingRemoving outer layers
- harvestingGathering mature crops
- reclaimingTaking possession again
scavenging · dismantling · reusing · extracting · recovering · components · junkyard · rebuilding · refurbishing · retrofitting
forbidden
Not allowed
- ghoulishFascinated by death grotesquely
- macabreDisturbing, death-obsessed
- gruesomeCausing horror and disgust
morbid · barbaric · savage · monstrous · ritualistic · heinous · atrocious · inhuman · tribal · sacrificial
undermining
Weakening by covert means
- competingContending for victory
- dilutingLessening strength by mixing
- encroachingGradually intruding on territory
undercutting · stealing · siphoning · diverting · eroding
cannibalizingoutsourcing
Third-party task delegation
acquiring · purchasing · importing · sourcing · buying in
cannibalizingmarket expansion
Increasing commercial reach
complementing · supplementing · synergizing · cross-selling · diversifying
cannibalizingbuilding
Enclosed roofed structure
constructing · assembling · creating · synthesizing · manufacturing