cancel out

Idioms  

1. Neutralize the effect of, offset, render void. For example, Anne's kindness to her neighbor could not cancel out her irritability. The verb cancel was used in this way by itself from the late 1400s; out was added in the early 1900s.

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Example Sentences

BP said the study didn't take its full progress into account since most of the data the researchers analyzed only ran through 2020, when the company first laid out its strategy to cancel out emissions.

From Salon

On a woeful pitch and in humid conditions in Baku, Stephen Glass will be thankful Jaime Romero's strike on the half hour is the only goal his side need to cancel out at Pittodrie.

From BBC

The surgeon, Mattarella said, invoked “humanity where conflict was cancelling out all respect for persons.”

From Seattle Times

Demographic shifts, thus far, have been canceled out by Republican gains among nonwhite and especially Latino voters, who supported Mr. Trump in unexpectedly large numbers in 2020 and helped deny Democrats victory in Florida.

From New York Times

Getting a lower grade in a subsequent retake does not cancel out your achievement the first time round.

From BBC

Related Words

• annihilate
• belie
• disallow
• disprove
• invalidate
• neutralize
• nullify
• rebut
• reverse
• undo
• vitiate
• void