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Showing results for cancel out. Search instead for cancel+out.
Synonyms

cancel out

Idioms  

  1. Neutralize the effect of, offset, render void. For example, Anne's kindness to her neighbor could not cancel out her irritability. The verb cancel was used in this way by itself from the late 1400s; out was added in the early 1900s.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The standard advice for a central bank facing a supply shock is to look past it, concluding that the hit to growth and the boost to inflation roughly cancel out.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

It recognized that improvement through treatment should not cancel out evidence of injury.

From Slate • Feb. 19, 2026

It can also cancel out disturbances that affect all of the atoms in the same way.

From Science Daily • Jan. 26, 2026

If either of these ratios were to fall back below their lows of a couple of weeks ago, that would cancel out the sell signal.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 8, 2026

He’s the part of this equation I wish would just cancel out.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.