cancel
cancel Lexical Profile
cancel Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To decide or announce that a planned event, appointment, or order will not take place.
"They had to cancel the outdoor concert due to the approaching thunderstorm."
To officially revoke, annul, or terminate a legal agreement, subscription, or financial arrangement.
"She called the provider to cancel her monthly magazine subscription."
To neutralize or counterbalance the effect or force of another thing.
"The tax rebate will largely cancel the cost of the new equipment."
To publicly boycott, ostracize, or withdraw support from a person or organization in response to perceived offensive behavior or remarks.
"Critics on social media attempted to cancel the celebrity after the controversial interview."
To mark or perforate a postage stamp, ticket, or check so that it cannot be used again.
"Postal machines automatically cancel thousands of stamps every hour."
• noun
An act of canceling, or a mark made on a postage stamp or check to show that it has been used and invalidated.
"The collector examined the rare postage stamp to see if it had a clean cancel."
In printing and bookbinding, a new page or leaf reprinted and inserted to replace an original leaf containing errors.
"The first edition of the novel is identifiable by a cancel on page forty-two."
Word Nuance & Usage
In American English, the inflected forms are typically spelled with a single 'l' (canceled, canceling), whereas British English doubles the 'l' (cancelled, cancelling); however, both varieties spell the noun 'cancellation' with a double 'l'.
• Rhymes for cancel
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Old French 'canceler', from Latin 'cancellare' ('to make like a lattice' or 'to cross out writing with lattice-like lines'), derived from 'cancelli' ('lattice, grating, or crossbars').