What is "cannibalizing"

Usage examples of "cannibalizing".

The engineer nodded as the captain assigned the responsibilities for cannibalizing the Winterlance.

I'll end up cannibalizing the landers for metal and everything else, because that's easier than trying to develop iron-working from scratch or than trading for it.

Looks like it’s cannibalizing the place to keep itself supplied with raw material.

It’s already started cannibalizing Janus so we know it’s running short of materials.

These days what was left of civilization maintained itself by robbing the failures of the past and by cannibalizing the rest.

There was a consensus not to start cannibalizing the ship for luxuries until they knew their limits and understood their new environment.

We have transmuters and when we are finished cannibalizing the old ship we will have a mindprinter.

Back in the age of steamships on oceans, on old Earth, there would be emergencies, they'd run out of wood or coal, and wind up cannibalizing the ships, which tended to be wood, and any cargo that would burn.