n 1  :  the usu. ritualistic eating of human flesh by a human being  2 a  :  the eating of the flesh or the eggs of any animal by its own kind  b  :  the eating of human flesh by a lower animal  3  :  the pecking and tearing of the live flesh of its own members in a domestic poultry flock - compare PECKING ORDER   4  :  oral sadism .
 
 
 
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