call off

verb

called off; calling off; calls off

transitive verb

1

: to draw away : divert

2

: cancel

Synonyms

• abstract
• detract
• distract
• divert
• throw off

Examples of call off in a Sentence

she was about to tell me the big news when her attention was called off by the arrival of another guest

called off the party after half of those invited couldn't make it

Recent Examples on the Web

At the time, engineers concluded the leak rate was small enough to permit launch, but the countdown was called off after engineers with Atlas-builder United Launch Alliance noted unusual behavior in an oxygen pressure relief valve in the rocket's Centaur upper stage. —William Harwood, CBS News, 21 May 2024

Prosecutors said Singh carefully planned his family’s killing, including by calling off work and arranging for his three children to be out of the apartment, and lied to shield himself from a police investigation. —Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 14 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

call off

verb

1

: to draw away : divert

call off a dog

2

: cancel sense 2a

call off a meeting