# eat one's own

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/eat-ones-own
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To turn on and attack members of one's own group or clique.

## Examples

- The political party started to eat its own during the election.
- The social club will eat its own if members disagree on the new rules.
- Competitive athletes sometimes eat their own when only one person can win the prize.
- When the company faced financial trouble, the managers began to eat their own to protect their own positions.
- After the project failed, the creative team began to eat their own by blaming the junior designers for every mistake.
- Instead of supporting each other during the crisis, the small business owners started to eat their own to win more customers.
- The activist group fell apart because the leaders chose to eat their own rather than focus on their shared goals.
- In a desperate struggle for control, the revolutionary council turned inward to eat its own, destroying the very alliances that had brought them to power.

## Origin

Derived as a shortened form of *eat one's own kind*, a reference to the biological occurrence of cannibalism among certain living organisms. The construction implies the consumption of members of the same group or species.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.