cancel

«cancel» in Mova's school dictionary: To decide that a planned event will not happen — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (cancel, cancels, cancelled, cancelling); noun (a cancel — rare)

meaning for a pupil

1) To decide that a planned event will not happen. tree →

2) To stop an order, booking or ticket so that it no longer counts. tree →

3) In maths, to remove the same factor or number from both parts, as when making a fraction simpler. tree →

4) (cancel out) Of two things: to have equal and opposite effects so together they make nothing. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life, matches, trips and school days get cancelled because of bad weather, illness or snow; on a computer «Cancel» stops an action. In maths, you cancel a fraction by dividing top and bottom by the same number (6/8 → 3/4), and +5 and −5 cancel out. In science, two equal forces pushing opposite ways cancel out and the object does not move. Phrases: «cancel out», «cancel a booking», «be cancelled because of».

examples

• The football match was cancelled because of the rain. tree →
• School was cancelled after the big snowstorm. tree →
• Mum cancelled the dentist appointment. tree →
• Click «Cancel» if you don't want to delete the file. tree →
• Cancel the twos: 2/6 becomes 1/3. tree →
• Adding 4 and then taking 4 away cancel each other out. tree →
• Two equal pushes from opposite sides cancel out, so the box stays still. tree →
• The flight was cancelled and we had to stay another night. tree →

note

British: cancelled, cancelling (double l); American: canceled, canceling (one l). Noun: «cancellation». Cancelling a fraction does not change its value — 3/4 is the same amount as 6/8. A cancelled event is not just late (that is «delayed» or «postponed»); it will not happen as planned.

In the corpora

• A subscription keeps taking money every month until it is cancelled, and free trials often turn into payments.
• When an acid meets an alkali, they react and cancel each other out: this is called neutralisation.
• Dad takes an antacid tablet for heartburn: the alkali in it cancels some stomach acid and the burning eases.
• Alkalis react with acids and cancel them out; this is called neutralisation.
• Antacid tablets contain an alkali that cancels some stomach acid; medicines are taken only as an adult or doctor directs.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «cancel» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.