1
as in to abandon
to put an end to (something planned or previously agreed to)
please call to cancel your appointment with the dentist if you can't make it
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2
as in to abolish
to put an end to by formal action
the agreement can be canceled by either side with a formal written notice
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3
as in to delete
to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it
canceled the check and wrote a new one
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4
as in to erase
to destroy all traces of
it seemed as though all honor and decency had been canceled by the war's new moral order
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as in to offset
to balance with an equal force so as to make ineffective
unfortunately, this one indiscretion will cancel out a long record of accomplishment
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Recent Examples of cancel
arkansasonline.com, 6 July 2025
Climate scientists in the United States are to be cut off from satellite data measuring the amount of sea ice — a sensitive barometer of climate change — as the U.S. Department of Defense announces plans to cancel processing of the data for scientific research.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 6 July 2025
That was in March, and three months later, Blackbird was cancelled this past week.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 5 July 2025
The Department of Transportation is free to update its guidance about how that program is administered moving forward, Lin wrote, but that does not require suspending the distribution of money — and should not involve canceling plans that were already approved.
—Camila Domonoske, NPR, 25 June 2025
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Verb
The sprawling tax and policy bill that passed Congress repeals a multibillion-dollar green bank for financing climate-friendly projects, and the Trump administration should be allowed to freeze its funding and cancel related contracts with nonprofits, federal officials said in a court filing.
—arkansasonline.com, 6 July 2025
Climate scientists in the United States are to be cut off from satellite data measuring the amount of sea ice — a sensitive barometer of climate change — as the U.S. Department of Defense announces plans to cancel processing of the data for scientific research.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 6 July 2025
That was in March, and three months later, Blackbird was cancelled this past week.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 5 July 2025
The Department of Transportation is free to update its guidance about how that program is administered moving forward, Lin wrote, but that does not require suspending the distribution of money — and should not involve canceling plans that were already approved.
—Camila Domonoske, NPR, 25 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for cancel
Cite this Entry
“Cancel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cancel. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.
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