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.

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Example Sentences

The standard advice for a central bank facing an oil shock is to look past it on the theory that the hit to growth and the boost to inflation roughly cancel out.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

The standard advice for a central bank facing an oil 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

Two weeks later, higher gasoline and energy prices stemming from the conflict could cancel out the effects of those higher refunds, economists say.

From MarketWatch

On Sunday, nearly all flights were cancelled out of the United Arab Emirates, home to Dubai airport, the second-largest in the world in terms of passengers.

From Barron's

Related Words

• annihilate
• belie
• disallow
• disprove
• invalidate
• neutralize
• nullify
• rebut
• reverse
• undo
• vitiate
• void