1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

cancels (out)

verb

present tense third-person singular of cancel (out)
as in offsets
to balance with an equal force so as to make ineffective unfortunately, this one indiscretion will cancel out a long record of accomplishment

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cancels (out)
  1. offsets
  2. corrects
  3. neutralizes
Verb
  • At this point, one year of interest income offsets the price decline from a 1% rise in rates.
    — Cheryl Winokur Munk, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026
  • That reflects tourism’s role as a vital economic engine that offsets tax burdens for Overland Park residents, a news release says.
    — Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of offsets
Verb
  • IonQ attributes this feat to its dual decoder architecture, where the first decoder extracts the initial syndrome measurements while the second decoder corrects the residual errors after refining the intermediate representation.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 23 Sep. 2026
  • This story corrects the sequence of Dodgers home runs in the second paragraph to show Will Smith hit their fourth homer of the eighth inning.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of corrects
Verb
  • As water flows through, the media traps or neutralizes certain contaminants before the water reaches you.
    — Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Sep. 2026
  • In addition to hydrogen peroxide, these strips contain xylitol, which boosts saliva flow and neutralizes the acids in your mouth that can break down your enamel.
    — Sara Coughlin, Allure, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of neutralizes
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

cancels
cancels (out)
cancer
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cancels (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cancels%20%28out%29. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of slew

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All