cancel out

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

A reliably Republican midterm electorate will cancel out a Democratic-leaning presidential-year electorate and then some.

From The Daily Beast

And if Clinton is willing to hit the state regularly, he can cancel out a lot of the Obama weight.

From The Daily Beast

But it also passed because each side assumed it would be able to cancel out the half it didn't like.

From The Daily Beast

On average your total payout should be zero*: the tails should cancel out the heads.

From The Daily Beast

The opposite, in fact: if all poor people were bad neighbors, the negative externalities would largely cancel out.

From The Daily Beast

If you bring back a good report, perhaps we can cancel out certain—unfortunate items in your record.

From Project Gutenberg

I had to cancel out the thrill that comes from challenging the unknown.

From Project Gutenberg

I will vote to accept his application, and thus cancel out my colleague's negative vote.

From Project Gutenberg

It began to cancel out its velocity away from the Platform, and to swim slowly and very carefully toward it.

From Project Gutenberg

The ship couldn't land because its momentum was too great for the landing rockets to cancel out.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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