verb
cancel
KAN-sl
verb
1
To call off or stop something planned from happening.
"They had to cancel the concert due to bad weather."
"She cancelled her gym membership after moving house."
2
To make something officially invalid.
"The airline cancelled his ticket after the missed connection."
3
In mathematics, to remove a common factor from both parts of a fraction or equation.
"You can cancel the 3s on both sides of the equation."
4
Informally, to withdraw public support from someone over controversial behaviour.
"The actor was cancelled online after the leaked messages surfaced."
How to Use Cancel
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo stop, undo, or invalidate something — from an event to a subscription to (informally) a person's public standing.
Common pairings
cancel an order
cancel a subscription
cancel culture
Word Forms
canceled past tense, cancelled past tense, cancels plural, Cancels plural, cancels singular
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They had to _____ the concert due to bad weather.
Etymology
From Latin cancellare, "to cross out with lines", from cancelli, "a lattice" — the same root that gives us "cancel" as crossing something out with crisscross marks.