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Webster 1913 Edition

Cancel

Can′cel

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Canceled
or
Cancelled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Canceling
or
Cancelling
.]
[L.
cancellare
to make like a lattice, to strike or cross out (cf. Fr.
canceller
, OF.
canceler
) fr.
cancelli
lattice, crossbars, dim. of
cancer
lattice; cf. Gr. [GREEK] latticed gate. Cf.
Chancel
.]
1.
To inclose or surround, as with a railing, or with latticework.
[Obs.]
A little obscure place
canceled
in with iron work is the pillar or stump at which . . . our Savior was scourged.
Evelyn.
2.
To shut out, as with a railing or with latticework; to exclude.
[Obs.]
“Canceled from heaven.”
Milton.
3.
To cross and deface, as the lines of a writing, or as a word or figure; to mark out by a cross line; to blot out or obliterate.
A deed may be avoided by delivering it up to be
cancelled
; that is, to have lines drawn over it in the form of latticework or
cancelli
; though the phrase is now used figuratively for any manner of obliterating or defacing it.
Blackstone.
4.
To annul or destroy; to revoke or recall.
The indentures were
canceled
.
Thackeray.
He was unwilling to
cancel
the interest created through former secret services, by being refractory on this occasion.
Sir W. Scott.
5.
(Print.)
To suppress or omit; to strike out, as matter in type.
Syn. – To blot out; obliterate; deface; erase; efface; expunge; annul; abolish; revoke; abrogate; repeal; destroy; do away; set aside. See
Abolish
.

Can′cel

,
Noun.
[See
Cancel
,
Verb.
I.
, and cf.
Chancel
.]
1.
An inclosure; a boundary; a limit.
[Obs.]
A prison is but a retirement, and opportunity of serious thoughts, to a person whose spirit . . . desires no enlargement beyond the
cancels
of the body.
Jer. Taylor.
2.
(Print)
(a)
The suppression or striking out of matter in type, or of a printed page or pages.
(b)
The part thus suppressed.

Webster 1828 Edition

Cancel

CANCEL

, v.t.
1.
To cross the lines of a writing, and deface them; to blot out or obliterate.
2.
To annul, or destroy; as, to cancel an obligation or a debt.

Definition 2024

cancel

cancel

English

Alternative forms

Verb

cancel ‎(third-person singular simple present cancels, present participle cancelling or (US) canceling, simple past and past participle cancelled or (US) canceled)

  1. (transitive) To cross out something with lines etc.
    • Blackstone
      A deed may be avoided by delivering it up to be cancelled; that is, to have lines drawn over it in the form of latticework or cancelli; the phrase is now used figuratively for any manner of obliterating or defacing it.
  2. (transitive) To invalidate or annul something.
    He cancelled his order on their website.
    • 1914, Marjorie Benton Cooke, Bambi
      "I don't know what your agreement was, Herr Professor, but if it had money in it, cancel it. I want him to learn that lesson, too."
  3. (transitive) To mark something (such as a used postage stamp) so that it can't be reused.
    This machine cancels the letters that have a valid zip code.
  4. (transitive) To offset or equalize something.
    The corrective feedback mechanism cancels out the noise.
  5. (transitive, mathematics) To remove a common factor from both the numerator and denominator of a fraction, or from both sides of an equation.
  6. (transitive, media) To stop production of a programme.
  7. (printing, dated) To suppress or omit; to strike out, as matter in type.
  8. (obsolete) To shut out, as with a railing or with latticework; to exclude.
    • Milton
      cancelled from heaven
  9. (slang) To kill.

Synonyms

Translations

Noun

cancel ‎(plural cancels)

  1. A cancellation (US); (nonstandard in some kinds of English).
    1. (Internet) A control message posted to Usenet that serves to cancel a previously posted message.
  2. (obsolete) An enclosure; a boundary; a limit.
    • Jeremy Taylor
      A prison is but a retirement, and opportunity of serious thoughts, to a person whose spirit […] desires no enlargement beyond the cancels of the body.
  3. (printing) The suppression on striking out of matter in type, or of a printed page or pages.

Translations


Related terms

Etymology

From Middle English cancellen, from Anglo-Norman canceler ‎(“to cross out with lines”), from Latin cancellare ‎(“to make resemble a lattice”), from cancelli ‎(“a railing or lattice”), diminutive of cancer ‎(“a lattice”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkænsl/

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