cancel

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
cancel/ˈkansl/

▶verb (cancels, cancelling, cancelled; US also cancels, canceling, canceled)

• 1 decide that (a planned event) will not take place.

  ■ annul or revoke: his visa had been cancelled.

• 2 mark or tear (a ticket or stamp) to show that it has been used or invalidated.

• 3 (often cancel something out) (of a factor or circumstance) neutralize or negate the effect of (another).

• 4 Mathematics delete (an equal factor) from both sides of an equation or from the numerator and denominator of a fraction.

▶noun

• 1 a mark made on a postage stamp to show that it has been used.

• 2 Printing a new page or section inserted in a book to replace the original text.

• 3 US (in music) a natural sign (♮).

– derivatives
cancellation noun,
canceller noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. canceller, from L. cancellare, from cancelli ‘crossbars’.