cancel
to make void, as a contract or other obligation; annul: to cancel a hotel reservation;to cancel a magazine subscription.
to decide or announce that a planned event will not take place; call off: to cancel a meeting.
to mark or perforate (a postage stamp, admission ticket, etc.) so as to render invalid for reuse.
to neutralize; compensate for; counterbalance: His sincere apology canceled his sarcastic remark.
to publicly reject, boycott, or no longer support (a person or group) because of socially or morally unacceptable views or actions: Fans have been quick to cancel their favorite rapper or other celebrity.
Accounting.
to close (an account) by crediting or paying all outstanding charges: He plans to cancel his account at the department store.
to eliminate or offset (a debit, credit, etc.) with an entry for an equal amount on the opposite side of a ledger, as when a payment is received on a debt.
Mathematics. to eliminate by striking out a factor common to both the denominator and numerator of a fraction, equivalent terms on opposite sides of an equation, etc.
to cross out (words, letters, etc.) by drawing a line over the item.
Printing. to omit.
to counterbalance or compensate for one another; become neutralized (often followed by out): The pros and cons cancel out.
Mathematics. (of factors common to both the denominator and numerator of a fraction, certain terms on opposite sides of an equation, etc.) to be equivalent; to allow cancellation.
an act of canceling.
Printing, Bookbinding.
an omitted passage, page, etc.
a replacement for an omitted part.
Origin of cancel
1synonym study For cancel
Other words for cancel
Other words from cancel
- can·cel·a·ble; especially British, can·cel·la·ble, adjective
- can·cel·er; especially British, can·cel·ler, noun
- re·can·cel, verb (used with object), re·can·celed, re·can·cel·ing or (especially British) re·can·celled, re·can·cel·ling.
- self-can·celed, adjective
- self-can·celled, adjective
- un·can·cel·a·ble, adjective
- un·can·celed, adjective
- un·can·cel·la·ble, adjective
- un·can·celled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use cancel in a sentence
Colorado Republican Cory Gardner demanded, waving a letter that he and his family received cancelling his insurance policy.
Eating out less, cancelling cable, running the old car a while longer.
Friends of mine this week were cancelling trips to the U.S. from Beijing, worried about “unsafe” American airports.
So, although we will be cancelling the party on December 1st at Nobu 57, you are very much in our hearts….
Google, Marc Jacobs, and Other Casualties of the Christmas Party Recession | Deborah Schoeneman | November 19, 2008 | THE DAILY BEAST“Dirty drab and rose-pink, with their silly cancelling contest”—does not that sum up the English drama of the last few years?
The English Stage | Augustin Filon
At Belfort Paul directed him to send another message cancelling the reservation.
High Noon | AnonymousThe cancelling and date marking operation is performed at the rate of 400 or 500 letters per minute.
The King's Post | R. C. TombsThe young Mason Grew had not at first accepted this astral episode as the complete cancelling of his claims on romance.
Tales Of Men And Ghosts | Edith WhartonBut now she praises you to the skies, because of your cancelling that enormous debt, and proposing to help the Duchess.
The Enemies of Women | Vicente Blasco Ibez
British Dictionary definitions for cancel
/ (ˈkænsəl) /
to order (something already arranged, such as a meeting or event) to be postponed indefinitely; call off
to revoke or annul: the order for the new television set was cancelled
to delete (writing, numbers, etc); cross out: he cancelled his name and substituted hers
to mark (a cheque, postage stamp, ticket, etc) with an official stamp or by a perforation to prevent further use
(also intr usually foll by out) to counterbalance; make up for (a deficiency, etc): his generosity cancelled out his past unkindness
to close (an account) by discharging any outstanding debts
(sometimes foll by out) accounting to eliminate (a debit or credit) by making an offsetting entry on the opposite side of the account
maths
to eliminate (numbers, quantities, or terms) as common factors from both the numerator and denominator of a fraction or as equal terms from opposite sides of an equation
(intr) to be able to be eliminated in this way
a new leaf or section of a book replacing a defective one, one containing errors, or one that has been omitted
a less common word for cancellation
music a US word for natural (def. 20)
Origin of cancel
1Derived forms of cancel
- canceller or US canceler, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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