# cancel

/ˈkænsəɫ/ (US) · /kˈænsəl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/cancel
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. to stop a planned event

verb · CEFR A2

to decide that something you planned, like a meeting or a trip, will not happen.

For teachers: to decide or announce that a planned event will not take place. Transitive; requires a direct object.

- The school had to cancel the football match because of the heavy rain.
- The airline was forced to cancel several international flights after a technical fault grounded the entire fleet for safety inspections.

### 2. to end a service or contract

verb · CEFR B1

to stop a service you pay for, like a gym membership or a phone plan.

For teachers: to invalidate or annul a legal agreement, subscription, or service. Often implies a formal notification to the provider.

- I want to cancel my magazine subscription because I don't have time to read it.
- The client decided to cancel the contract after the agency failed to meet the agreed-upon performance targets for three consecutive months.

### 3. social rejection

verb · CEFR B2 · Informal · Slang

to stop supporting a famous person because they said or did something offensive.

For teachers: to withdraw support for a public figure or company as a form of social protest, typically on social media.

- The actor was cancelled by many fans after his offensive comments went viral.
- The brand faced a massive backlash and was effectively cancelled by its core demographic following the controversial marketing campaign.

Teaching tip: This sense is often used in the context of 'cancel culture'; it can be highly polarizing and is mostly used in informal or online discussions.

### 4. to balance out

verb · CEFR B2

to have an opposite effect so that the result is zero or neutral.

For teachers: to offset or neutralize the effect of something else. Often used with the particle 'out'.

- The extra money I earned was cancelled out by the high cost of the repairs.
- The gains made by the marketing department were unfortunately cancelled out by the rising costs of raw materials during the same quarter.

### 5. mathematics

verb · CEFR B2 · Technical

to remove the same numbers from both sides of an equation or a fraction.

For teachers: to remove a common factor from both the numerator and denominator of a fraction, or from both sides of an equation.

- You can cancel the zeros to make the fraction easier to read.
- The student failed to cancel the common variables in the numerator, leading to an unnecessarily complex final expression.

### 6. to mark a stamp

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to put a mark on a postage stamp so it cannot be used again.

For teachers: to mark a postage stamp or ticket with a physical or digital seal to prevent reuse.

- The post office uses a machine to cancel the stamps on every letter.
- Collectors often value stamps that have been cancelled with rare or historically significant postmarks from small rural offices.

### 7. a replacement page

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a new page printed to replace a page with a mistake in a book.

For teachers: a new leaf or page printed to take the place of one containing an error, which is then removed before binding.

- The publisher sent a cancel to be inserted into the first edition of the book.
- Bibliographers carefully examine cancels to determine the original text that the author or publisher intended to suppress.

## Examples

- They had to cancel the match because of the heavy rain.
- I need to call the bank to cancel my credit card because I lost my wallet yesterday.
- The network decided to cancel the series after the first season due to a significant decline in viewership and rising production costs.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.