cancel.
To cross out something with lines etc.
Meaning & usage
To cross out something with lines etc.
To invalidate or annul something.
He cancelled his order on their website.
To mark something (such as a used postage stamp) so that it cannot be reused.
This machine cancels the letters that have a valid zip code.
To offset or equalize something.
The corrective feedback mechanism cancels out the noise.
To remove a common factor from both the numerator and denominator of a fraction, or from both sides of an equation.
To stop production of a programme.
To suppress or omit; to strike out, as matter in type.
To shut out, as with a railing or with latticework; to exclude.
To kill.
To cease to provide financial or moral support to (someone deemed unacceptable); to disinvite. Compare cancel culture.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English cancellen, from Anglo-Norman canceler (“to cross out with lines”) (modern French chanceler (“to stagger, sway”)), from Old French canceler, from Latin cancellō (“to make resemble a lattice”), from cancellus (“a railing or lattice”), diminutive of cancer (“a lattice”).
A cancellation.
A cancellation. A control message posted to Usenet that serves to cancel a previously posted message.
An enclosure; a boundary; a limit.
The suppression on striking out of matter in type, or of a printed page or pages.
The page thus suppressed.
The page that replaces it.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English cancellen, from Anglo-Norman canceler (“to cross out with lines”) (modern French chanceler (“to stagger, sway”)), from Old French canceler, from Latin cancellō (“to make resemble a lattice”), from cancellus (“a railing or lattice”), diminutive of cancer (“a lattice”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.