to eat their young - Glite Dictionary

Examples

Pigs are crass, self-centered, greedy, and they eat their young.

Fiction book (1994)
In competitive workplaces, it is often said that some leaders will eat their young to advance their careers.
Many corporate cultures exhibit a tendency to eat their young, prioritizing profits over the well-being of newer employees.
Some organizations mistakenly believe that ruthlessly eliminating less experienced team members is a form of growth, leading them to eat their young.

Synonyms

to prey

vsto eat their young

75 7.8

To use people who are weak or trusting to get what you want

targets members inside the same group and involves betrayal

to eat their own

vsto eat their young

Literature

1 9.5

To turn against people in your own group

is more ruthless and exploits members for personal gain

to eat its own

vsto eat their young

1 9.5

To betray or harm members of the same group, often during internal fighting

focuses on ruthless personal gain rather than group protection

to cut someone's throat

vsto eat their young

Offensive

8.4

To betray or hurt someone to get an advantage

targets members of the same group for ruthless exploitation

Antonyms

to protect

∞ 1.0

To keep someone or something safe from harm

to nurture

155 3.5

To care for and encourage someone or something to grow

How Ruthless

to eat their young

Literature

1 9.9

to destroy

Informal

557 1.7

Surface Forms

eat their young infinitive

ate their young past

eaten their young past participle

eating their young present participle

eats their young third person singular

Morphology

eat + their + young

The verb 'eat' plus 'their young' creates a vivid metaphor of consuming or destroying one's own offspring, so a learner who knows the words will likely infer a sense of harming or using up junior members. However, the extended sense of ruthlessly exploiting or betraying colleagues for personal gain is a culture-specific, figurative extension that is not fully predictable from the literal constituents, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The idiom eat their young comes from real animal behaviour: when there is very little food, some parent animals will actually eat their young to survive. That shocking image is used for people or groups who 'ruthlessly exploit or betray' their own members, especially younger or weaker ones.