cancel

KAN-suhl/ˈkæn.sl̩/

Noun pluralcancels

16 meanings of cancel

1
verbtransitive
To make something stop being valid or official.
Like erasing a rule so it no longer counts.
The judge canceled the contract after finding errors in it.
You can cancel your booking up to a day before.
Similarundo, annul
Oppositevalidate, uphold, reinstate, ratify
Note
2
verbneologismtransitive
To publicly reject someone and stop supporting them because of something they said or did.
Like a whole crowd turning its back on someone at once.
Fans tried to cancel the singer after his rude comments.
The company canceled the host once the old posts surfaced.
Similarboycott, blacklist, blackball, deplatform
Oppositesupport, endorse, back
Note
3
verbtransitive
To stop making a television or radio show.
Like stopping a magazine so no new issues ever come out.
The network decided to cancel the show after one season.
They canceled my favorite cartoon last year.
Similaraxe, drop, scrap, end, pull
Oppositerenew, commission
Note
4
verbtransitive
To draw lines through writing to remove it.
Like crossing out a word in your notebook with a pencil.
She canceled the wrong word with a single line.
Please cancel any mistakes neatly instead of erasing them.
Similarstrike, delete, cross, scratch
Note
5
verbtransitive
To balance out one thing with another so the two have no overall effect.
Like one person pushing a door open while another pushes it shut: nothing moves.
The gains cancel the losses, leaving the account even.
A tailwind can cancel the effect of a slower start.
Similaroffset, neutralize, negate, counteract, nullify
Oppositereinforce, amplify
Note
6
verbtransitive
To mark a stamp or ticket so it cannot be used again.
Like stamping 'used' on a ticket so no one can use it twice.
The clerk canceled each stamp with a round ink mark.
Post offices cancel stamps to show they have been used.
Similardeface
7
verbtransitive
To remove the same number from the top and bottom of a fraction.
Like taking the same weight off both sides of a seesaw so it stays balanced.
You can cancel the threes in that fraction to simplify it.
She canceled the common factor on both sides of the equation.
Similareliminate, remove
Note
8
nounUScountable
The act of calling off or stopping something that was planned.
Like calling off a party after you already sent the invitations.
The last-minute cancel cost the company thousands.
A string of cancels forced the venue to close early.
Note
9
verbslangtransitive
To kill someone, especially on purpose.
The gang threatened to cancel anyone who talked to the police.
They canceled the informant before he could testify.
Similarkill, destroy, eliminate, exterminate, annihilate
Note
10
nouncountable
The act of removing printed text or whole pages from a book.
Like cutting a page with a mistake out of a finished book.
The printers performed a cancel to remove the libelous lines.
The cancel of those pages delayed binding by a week.
Similarsuppression, deletion, excision
Note

Practice

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Origin

It comes from a Latin word meaning to make something look like a lattice of crossed lines, which led to the sense of crossing something out.