noun / adjective
cannibal
KAN-uh-buhl/ˈkænɪbl/
A person or animal that eats members of its own species, or involving such eating.
The larger pike is a cannibal, swallowing a smaller fish of its own species.
Etymology
Spanish caníbal turned a form of the Carib people's name into a label for a human flesh-eater, reflecting European beliefs about them. The meaning later widened to animals that eat their own kind.
In context
Speaking as a cannibal myself, I ate my wife's placenta.
More examples
- Some fish become cannibals when food is scarce.
- The novel features a terrifying human cannibal.
- The study records cannibal behavior among the larvae.
Forms
cannibal · cannibals