cancel out

verb

canceled out or cancelled out; canceling out or cancelling out; cancels out

: to reduce the effect of (something) : to be equal to (something) in force or importance but have an opposite effect

The costs cancel out the benefits.

Examples of cancel out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Their action engendered a response from Democrats and a decision by California voters that canceled out the potential gains of Republicans in Texas by conducting a partisan gerrymander of their own. —Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 25 Apr. 2026

By carefully arranging chromium and pyrazine, the team created a system where opposing magnetic moments almost perfectly cancel out externally while staying robust internally. —Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 25 Apr. 2026

Here, the layers of the thin-film stack in the material are precisely measured so that unwanted reflections – which would normally waste energy – are cancelled out by the light waves bumping into each other, leaving more energy for the panel to collect. —Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 24 Apr. 2026

The wins, however, don't cancel out the realities that the planet continues to be on a tipping point. —Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 22 Apr. 2026

Rhymes for cancel out

• roundabout
• runabout
• sauerkraut
• thereabout
• turnabout
• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout