canceln.
/ˈkansl/, U.S. /ˈkæns(ə)l/ 1. plural. Prison bars, limits, bounds, confines. Chiefly figurative. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > [noun] > action of > that which
cancels1596
four walls1849
1596 C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. E3v Bounded Within the cancels, that the world doe bound.
c1645 Sir E. Dering in J. Rushworth Hist. Coll.: Third Pt. (1692) I. 295 As Mr. Speaker is bounded in and limited, by the Rules and Cancels of this House.
1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar iii. xiv. 14 A person whose spirit is confined..and desires no enlargement beyond the cancels of the body.
a1667 Bp. J. Taylor Serm. (1678) 28 To put holy things into cancels, and immure them with acts and laws and cautions of separation.
II. Senses relating to striking out or annulling.
2. The act of striking out, erasing, annulling, rescinding, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > cancellation, revocation > [noun]
revoking1395
revocationc1400
cassationc1425
annulling1449
reclamationa1475
annulmenta1492
retractation1531
disannulling1533
abrogation1535
cancellation1535
retraction1536
extinguishment1537
undoing1540
abrenunciation1557
revocating1570
reversement1572
revokement1573
annihilation1579
revocatory1579
annullity1586
retroversion1587
rescission1594
recall1597
recision1606
disannulment1611
repeal1612
rasurea1616
cancelment1621
retractinga1624
cancelling1631
extinction1651
circumduction1726
cassing1844
recallment1845
cancel1884
1884 Manch. Examiner 12 May 4/4 If an order is fairly executed it is a rare thing to receive a cancel.
3. Print. The suppression and reprinting of a page or leaf. Hence concrete: (a) a page so cancelled or struck out; (b) (in full, cancel-leaf) the new page substituted for that cancelled; also cancel-page, cancel-sheet. (Now the prevailing use.)
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > correction > [noun] > suppression or reprinting of page
cancel1803
cancellation1872
society > communication > printing > correction > [noun] > suppression or reprinting of page > leaf or portion to be substituted
cancel1803
cancellandum leaf1923
society > communication > printing > correction > [noun] > suppression or reprinting of page > substituted leaf or page
cancel-leaf1803
cancellans1964
1803 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 394 Send me down a whole set of the sheets, that I may look them over; and see what cancels are necessary.
1823 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 2nd Ser. II. 332 It was his pride to read these cancels [suppressed by the censor] to his friends.
1823 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 2nd Ser. II. 333 These cancel sheets, or castrations.
1861 D. G. Rossetti Let. May (1965) II. 401 There are five cancel leaves already in the book.
1862 National Rev. Jan. 38 This title-page is a manifest cancel.
1872 J. A. H. Murray in Complaynt Scotl. Introd. p. xxxiii The leaf..is a cancel replacing the original 31.
1908 F. Madan in Trans. Bibliogr. Soc. 9 62 Cancels are newly-printed leaves intended to take the place of cancelled leaves.
1908 Pollard & Greg in Trans. Bibliogr. Soc. 9 44 When we speak of a cancel nobody else ever knows whether we mean the leaf cut out and destroyed or the leaf inserted as a substitute. If we are careful we distinguish between a cancelled leaf and a cancel-leaf, but the person to whom we are speaking probably does not catch the subtle distinction. A change of terminology might be desirable.
1914 R. B. McKerrow in Trans. Bibliogr. Soc. 12 299 In one case the leaf has been simply cut out, but in all the others it is replaced by a cancel-leaf.
1924 R. W. Chapman in Library V. 249 Notes on Cancel Leaves.
1927 R. B. McKerrow Introd. Bibliogr. 223 It is convenient to have a means of distinguishing clearly between the original sheet or portion of a sheet which is intended to be cancelled and what is intended to replace it. We may call the former the cancellandum or ‘cancelland’, the latter the cancellans or simply ‘cancel’.
1964 F. Bowers Bibliogr. & Textual Crit. v. iv. 152 Two versions of a cancel leaf.
4. pair of cancels n. an instrument for defacing or punching tickets (on the railway, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > [noun] > device for erasing > for tickets
pair of cancels1887
1887 Daily Tel. 11 Apr. 2/6 Charged with stealing a pair of Cancels, the property of the District Railway Company.
1887 Standard 18 Apr. 3/5 A pair of ticket cancels.
5. Music. A natural sign, used to cancel the effect of a preceding sharp or flat. Cf. cancel v. 4d. Chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > notation > [noun] > signs altering pitch
bemol1609
sharp1653
B sharp1654
natural1724
accidental1868
flat1872
cancel1912
1912 Nat. Educ. Assoc. U.S. Jrnl. Proc. & Addresses 1022 The committee [on musical terminology] suggests to those who use ‘cancel’ as a noun, the use of ‘primary’ as an adjective.
1938 Oxf. Compan. Music 26/2 The American substitution of Cancel for Natural (after a sharp or flat) is defended on grounds that are decidedly logical.
1980 C. Headington Illustr. Dict. Mus. Terms 27/2 Cancel, same as ‘natural’ — as opposed to sharp, flat, etc.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
cancelv.
/ˈkansl/, U.S. /ˈkæns(ə)l/ 1. † b. To deface or destroy by cutting or tearing up.
a. transitive. To deface or obliterate (writing), as by drawing lines across it lattice-wise; to cross out, strike out. Of legal documents, deeds, etc.: To annul, render void or invalid by so marking.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > efface, obliterate [verb (transitive)] > erase by marking
strikec1386
to rub offa1425
cancelc1440
streakc1440
cross1483
outstrike1487
line1530
to strike out1530
dash1549
to strike off1597
cancellate1664
damask1673
score1687
to run through1817
overscore1834
blue-pencil1883
stroke1885
caviar1890
to stencil out1891
to strike through1898
ex1935
x1942
society > law > rule of law > illegality > render illegal [verb (transitive)] > deprive of legal validity > by defacing or obliterating
cancelc1440
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 60/1 Cancellynge or strekynge owte a false word, obelus.
1466 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 332 This day my mastyr reseyvid and canselled the said obligacyon.
1539 Elyot in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. i. 142 II. 117 There was a former patente founde of the sayde Office, and myn was callid in and cancelled.
1592 R. Greene 2nd Pt. Conny-catching (new ed.) sig. A4 Marry saies the prentise..then Bull shall cancell my indentures at Tiburne.
1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. 512 The Hand-writing against him may be Cancelled in the Court of Heaven.
1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. (new ed.) II. xx. 309 A deed may be avoided, by delivering it up to be cancelled; that is to have lines drawn over it, in the form of lattice work or cancelli; though the phrase is now used figuratively for any manner of obliteration or defacing it.
1836 T. Arnold Let. in A. P. Stanley Life of Dr. Arnold (1844) II. viii. 34 In my Catholic Pamphlet..there is one paragraph which I should now cancel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)] > by breaking, tearing, or cutting something off
forcutc1386
shattera1513
cancel1574
snip1822
mutilate1824
shard1879
detruncate1885
nick1885
1574 J. Baret Aluearie C 47 I tore or rent in pieces, the verses that I made, I cancelled them.
1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. Cancell, to vndoe, deface, crosse out, or teare.
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iii. 385 That innocent Volume, first cancelled with a pen-knife to pieces, then afterward burnt to ashes.
1659 J. Pearson Expos. Creed (1839) 296 One ancient custom of cancelling bonds was, by striking a nail through the writing.
2. figurative.† b. intransitive. To become void or null. rare.
a. To annul, repeal, render void (obligations, promises, vows, or other things binding). Also with out.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > cancellation, revocation > annul, cancel, revoke [verb (transitive)]
fordoOE
allayOE
withdrawc1290
withclepe13..
again-callc1390
to call againc1390
repealc1390
revokec1400
unmakec1400
rive1415
annulc1425
abroge1427
uncommandc1430
discharge?a1439
retreatc1443
retract1501
cancela1513
abrogate?1520
dissolve1526
extinct1531
rescind1531
abrenounce1537
infringe1543
recall1565
unwrite1577
extinguish1590
exauctorate1593
relinquish1594
unact1594
to strike off1597
undecide1601
unpass1606
to take off1609
to draw back1610
reclaim1615
to put back1616
abrenunciate1618
unrip1622
supersedeate1641
to set off1642
unassure1643
unorder1648
to ask away1649
disdetermine1651
unbespeak1661
undecree1667
reassumea1675
off-break1702
circumduct1726
raise1837
resiliate1838
denounce1841
disorder1852
pull1937
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. xxxv All such bandes and promysses that the Kynge or any other had made..shuld be adnulled & cancelled.
1619 M. Drayton Idea in Poems (rev. ed.) 273 Shake hands for euer, Cancell all our Vowes.
1696 R. Bentley Of Revel. & Messias 33 Who can say, that this [the Moral Law] is abrogated and cancelled by Jesus?
1772 J. Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) II. 34 That promise must have been cancelled.
1844 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VIII. 138 All debts were to be cancelled.
1924 R. Hichens After Verdict ii. xix Her will, so it seemed to her, had been cancelled out by little Clive's death.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > be non-existent [verb (intransitive)] > end or cease to exist
tirec725
endOE
forfareOE
goc1175
fleec1200
to wend awayc1225
diea1240
to-melta1240
to pass awaya1325
flit1340
perishc1350
vanisha1375
decorre1377
cease1382
dispend1393
failc1400
overshakec1425
surcease1439
adrawc1450
fall1523
decease1538
define1562
fleet1576
expire1595
evanish1597
extinguish1599
extirp1606
disappear1623
evaporatea1631
trans-shift1648
annihilate1656
exolve1657
cancela1667
to pass off1699
to burn out, forth1832
spark1845
to die out1853
to come, go, etc. by the board1859
sputter1964
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > cancellation, revocation > make revocation [verb (intransitive)] > become null
cancela1667
a1667 A. Cowley A rash oath that cancell'd in the making.
3. gen.
a. To obliterate, blot out, delete from sight or memory.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > efface, obliterate [verb (transitive)]
dilghec897
scrape1303
washc1380
fade1398
razea1425
out-razec1425
racec1450
enrasea1492
stramp1535
wipe1535
facec1540
cancel1559
outblot1573
to wash out1580
to blur out1581
obliterate1607
efface1611
dislimna1616
excerebrate1621
demark1655
rufflea1680
erase1695
scrub1828
overscore1834
elide1846
trash1859
to wipe (off) the slate1921
1559 D. Lindsay Test. Papyngo l. 252 in Wks. (1931) I Quho bene Iniuste degraditar of glorie, And cancillat out of thy memorie.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 379 Canceld from Heav'n and sacred memorie, Nameless in dark oblivion let them dwell. View more context for this quotation
1827 J. Montgomery Pelican Island ii. 292 Great Babylon was like a wreath of sand, Left by one tide, and cancell'd by the next.
b. To frustrate, reduce to nought, put an end to, abolish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (transitive)]
forbidc1000
forrunc1275
forbar1303
before-comec1384
withstanda1400
withholdc1400
prevenec1485
supprime1490
interrupt1497
resist?a1513
prevent1522
discourage1528
prohibit1531
stop1534
forleta1555
bar1559
to bar by and main1567
disbar1567
to cut off1576
embar1577
forestall1579
obvent1588
cancel1594
waylay1625
suppress1651
antevene1655
arceate1657
exarceate1657
interpel1722
stump1858
estop1876
plug1887
pre-empt1957
deter1961
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. G3 Why hath thy seruant opportunity..Canceld my fortunes? View more context for this quotation
1608 Yorkshire Trag. sig. B2v Much good has bin expected in your life, Cancell not all mens hopes.
1813 Ld. Byron Let. 2 Oct. (1974) III. 131 Your letter has cancelled all my anxieties.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xciii. 140 At length my trance Was cancell'd, stricken thro' with doubt. View more context for this quotation
1868 A. Helps Realmah I. v. 107 I would cancel those offices which are becoming obsolete.
Thesaurus »
c. with off. (Cf. cut off at off adv. 4a.)
4.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
a. Arithmetic. To strike out (a figure) by drawing a line through it; esp. in removing a common factor, e.g. from the numerator and denominator of a fraction; also absol. Hence
b. To remove equivalent quantities of opposite signs, or on opposite sides of an equation, account, etc.; to balance a quantity of opposite sign, so that the sum is zero.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > algebra > perform algebra [verb (transitive)] > eliminate quantity or simplify
cancel1543
lessen1668
destroy1706
eliminate1736
exterminate1743
rationalize1816
1543 R. Record Ground of Artes i. sig. J.iiiiv I must write that one ouer 3, and deface or cancel the 3.
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises i. iv. f. 6v Cancell the 2. and draw another line vnder the 2. seuerall products.
1798 C. Hutton Course Math. I. 157 Here the 2 to carry cancels the − 2, and there remains the − 1 to set down.
c. figurative. To render (a thing) null by means of something of opposite nature; to neutralize, counterbalance, countervail; to make up for, compensate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > have effect on [verb (transitive)] > neutralize or counteract
fordoc1175
counterpoisec1374
correct1578
countercheck1590
countervail1590
cancel1633
counterbalance1636
counterswaya1640
countermand1645
counter-influence1667
counteract1694
destroy1726
neutralizea1797
counterweigh1825
antagonize1833
mitigate1857
kill1858
the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > make equal [verb (transitive)] > balance against or counterbalance
gaina1375
counterpoise1393
peisea1400
weigh1583
set1589
poise1600
to weigh against, again1600
affront1609
balance1624
cancel1633
counterbalance1636
counterpose1636
compensate1656
equilibriatea1657
outset1656
equiponderate1661
equipoise1664
equibalance1665
offset1673
countersway1710
to set off1749
counterweigh1825
equilibrate1829
to set against ——1832
equilibrize1833
1633 G. Herbert Bag in Temple iv Many a brunt He did endure to cancell sinne: And having giv'n the rest before, Here he gave up his life to pay our score.
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 181 With publick Zeal to cancel private Crimes.
a1777 O. Goldsmith Prol. 16 Here then at once I welcome every shame, And cancel at three score a life of fame.
1855 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (1860) xix. §792 One motion exactly cancels the other.
1881 B. Jowett tr. Thucydides Hist. Peloponnesian War I. 29 The later kindness..may cancel a greater previous wrong.
d. Music. To remove the effect of (a preceding sharp or flat), including an element of the key signature: marked by inserting a natural sign in the score.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > set pitch [verb (transitive)] > alter by adding natural
cancel1836
1809 J. W. Callcott Mus. Gram. i. v. 50 The Germans, consider this character as an alteration of the letter B, and call it a Cross (Kreuz), or latticed B (Gegittertes Be, B cancellatum).]
1836 L. Mason Man. Boston Acad. Mus. (ed. 2) 151 If a sharpened note is again to be restored, or the sharp is to be removed or canceled, it is done by a character called a natural, which is made thus ♮.
1880 in G. Grove Dict. Music II. 448/1 Naturals do not occur in the signatures of keys, except when it is necessary to cancel all or part of a previous signature.
1983 New Oxf. Compan. Music I. 3/2 Accidental. Signs used in musical notation to indicate chromatic alterations from the key-signature or to cancel them.
e. intransitive. Const. out. To be rendered null or neutral by counterbalance.
ΚΠ
1925 Wireless Weekly July 449/1 There will be a position where the effects of the two field coils cancel out.
1965 Listener 16 Sept. 421/1 The personal preferences of your contributors are..likely to cancel out.
5. Printing. To suppress (a page, sheet, etc.) after it has been set up in type or printed off.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > correction > correct [verb (transitive)] > cancel matter
cancel1738
kill1865
1738 T. Birch Life Milton in J. Milton Wks. I. 46 The Sheet otherwise the same, not cancell'd, but the Alteration made as it was printing.
1775 W. Mason Mem. in T. Gray Poems 401 I once had an intention to cancel the pages, and correct the passages objected to.
1852 H. Cotton Edit. Bible 276 Mr. Lea Wilson was of opinion that fol. xxxi. in the New Testament has been cancelled and reprinted.
ΚΠ
1473 in R. Arnold Chron. (c1503) f. xxvijv/1 That noo wullen cloth from thensforth be shorne excepte cancellyng but yf it be fully wet.
1483 Act 1 Rich. III viii. §4 That no Sherman nor other persone..shere nor cancell any Cloth within this Roialme but if the same be afore fullye wette.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (transitive)] > furnish or surround with fence or hedge
haya1050
palea1382
palis?a1400
hain14..
tinec1440
bara1500
mound1515
impale1530
stowerc1555
palisado1607
teen1616
palisade1632
impile1633
cancel1650
wire1691
inrail1714
ring-fence1761
whin-kid1876
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclose [verb (transitive)] > with a fence or hedge > with railings
rail1437
to rail inc1500
cancel1650
inrail1714
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iv. iii. 50 Cancelling, and railing it with posts.
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 246 In a little obscure place, canc<e>lld in with yron Worke.
Draft additions March 2021
8. colloquial (originally U.S.). transitive. To dismiss, reject, or get rid of (a person or thing). In later use, esp. in the context of social media: to publicly boycott, ostracize, or withdraw support from (a person, institution, etc.) thought to be promoting culturally unacceptable ideas.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > clear out or away
kill?c1225
purge1340
void1390
roota1398
devoida1400
rida1450
betwechec1450
redd1479
to make (clean, quick, etc.) riddance1528
expurge1542
vacuate1572
free1599
cleanse1628
rede1638
to clear out1655
dress1701
to clear away1711
to clear off1766
dissaturate1866
cancel1990
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (transitive)] > abandon, renounce, or refuse to acknowledge
shrivec1374
disavowc1400
reject1426
renouncec1450
disvow1502
disavouch1583
disclaim1585
to throw (also cast, fling, etc.) overboard1588
disacknowledge1598
forjure1601
disknow1606
disvoucha1616
to swear off1839
to throw down1895
to go into the discard1898
ditch1921
cancel1990
the mind > mental capacity > memory > faulty recollection > deliberate forgetting, condoning > [verb (transitive)] > consign to oblivion
defacec1386
to strike by1457
efface1490
unlearna1500
obliterate1548
delete1563
oblivionize1593
dismiss1594
bury1595
oblivion1659
obliviate1661
erase1695
to go into the discard1927
cancel1990
1990 B. M. Cooper & T. L. Wright New Jack City (film script, revised draft) 94* Cancel that bitch. I'll buy another one.
2016 @ClinicallyLuxe 13 Dec. in twitter.com (accessed 27 Oct. 2020) Guys you know we have to cancel her though? Because she said all lives matter or some crap like that.
2020 Washington Post (Nexis) 12 July b2 In 1966, right-wing Christians tried to cancel John Lennon, after he claimed that the Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus’.
Draft additions March 2021
cancel culture n. the action or practice of publicly boycotting, ostracizing, or withdrawing support from a person, institution, etc., thought to be promoting culturally unacceptable ideas.
ΚΠ
2016 @unicorninkk 28 Oct. in twitter.com (accessed 3 Sept. 2020) I hate cancel culture until I want to set things on fire!
2020 Manawatu (N.Z.) Standard (Nexis) 11 July 9 [He] says he is a victim of ‘cancel culture’ after being stripped of his..title over a series of offensive tweets.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1596
v.c1440