can‧cel S2 / kæns ə l / 动词 ( past tense and past participle cancelled , present participle cancelling British English , canceled , canceling American English )

1 [不及物和及物动词] to decide that something that was officially planned will not happen :

Our flight was cancelled.

I’m afraid I’ll have to cancel our meeting tomorrow.

You’ll just have to ring John and cancel.

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In everyday English, people often say call something off rather than cancel something: We’ll just have to cancel . ➔ We’ll just have to call it off .

2 [不及物和及物动词] to end an agreement or arrangement that you have with someone :

I phoned the hotel to cancel my reservation.

The bank agreed to cancel all the company’s debts.

3 [及物动词] to say officially that a document can no longer be used or no longer has any legal effect :

I phoned the bank to cancel the cheque.

THESAURUS

cancel to decide that something that was officially planned will not happen : The teacher was ill so classes were cancelled for the day. | I was feeling better so I cancelled my doctor’s appointment. | They were forced to cancel the concert when the conductor became ill.

call off to cancel a meeting, game, or event that you have organized. Call off is less formal than cancel and is very commonly used in everyday English : Linda decided to call the wedding off. | The game was called off due to heavy rain.

be off if an event or activity is off, it has been cancelled because of a sudden problem or change in someone’s plans : I’m afraid the party’s off. Nick won’t let us use his apartment. | Myers called me yesterday to tell me that the deal was off.

postpone to decide to do something at a later time, instead of the time that was officially planned : The show has been postponed until next Saturday.

shelve ( also put something on ice ) to decide not to continue with a plan, project etc although it may be considered again at some time in the future : Plans for a new stadium have been shelved for now. | The project had to be put on ice due to lack of funding. | Blears called for the discussions to be put on ice until after the elections.

annul formal to officially decide that a marriage, result, or agreement has no legal authority and is therefore cancelled : The election results were annulled by the courts. | A marriage can be annulled if there has been lack of consent.

cancel something ↔ out 短语动词

if two things cancel each other out, they are equally important and have an opposite effect to each other, so that neither one has any effect → negate :

The losses in our overseas division have cancelled out the profits made in the home market.