cancel (one's) Christmas

slang To kill someone. As soon as that guy becomes a liability, I'll get Ray to cancel his Christmas, no problem. The man said he'd cancel my Christmas if I told anyone that I'd seen him burying the money in the field. Because she's the prosecution's star witness, I'm worried the defendant will cancel her Christmas before she ever gets a chance to testify against them.

cancel (someone)

slang To reject, spurn, disregard, or permanently dismiss someone, typically a celebrity or other public figure who has committed or been accused of criminal, offensive, or otherwise troublesome actions, especially sexual misconduct or bigoted statements. Harvey Weinstein is just one of the prominent men in Hollywood who have been effectively canceled in the wake of the Me Too movement. After today's revelation, can we all just agree to cancel him already? A: "You think they'll cancel that guy?" B: "They should—continually posting racist statements on social media is definitely not OK."

cancel culture

The pervasive societal tendency, especially following the Me Too movement, to "cancel" (permanently reject, spurn, disregard, or dismiss) a celebrity or other public figure who has committed or been accused of criminal, offensive, or otherwise troublesome actions, especially sexual misconduct or bigoted statements. The term is often used to be critical of such a tendency. In our current cancel culture, some celebrities are being destroyed for relatively benign mistakes that they would have previously been able to apologize for and learn from. I think we can all appreciate how cancel culture has successfully taken power away from prominent people who are, in fact, criminals. I think some of the rich and famous men bemoaning cancel culture just don't like being held accountable for their slimy, immoral—and often downright illegal—actions.

cancel each other out

Of two things, to negate or offset one another. Because my husband and I support different political parties, our votes for president always end up canceling each other out. Neither team has an advantage in net—they both have stellar goalies that ultimately cancel each other out. You two have such opposite views on, well, just about everything, that you cancel each other out.

cancel out

1. To negate or offset something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "cancel" and "out." My husband and I support different political parties, which means that his vote always cancels out mine. Neither team has an advantage in net—they both have stellar goalies that ultimately cancel each other out. That's not fair! If the boss suspends our project indefinitely, he's canceling out the hours of work we've poured into it!

2. To remove or erase something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "cancel" and "out." We just ran out of the crab special, so be sure to cancel it out on the menu. I reviewed your guest list and canceled out Kelly and Grant—they have the flu, so they won't be coming tonight. Oops, I was supposed to cancel out Penseurs et Essayistes in the course catalog—the French department isn’t offering it this semester after all.

3. To remove equal factors from a mathematical equation. A noun or pronoun can be used between "cancel" and "out." Once you cancel out those two numbers, what total are you left with? A: "Aha, I see where you went wrong—these two numbers cancel each other out." B: "Oh, yeah." Wait, am I supposed to cancel out a factor here?

4. slang To kill someone. A noun or pronoun can be used between "cancel" and "out." Ray canceled out the informant, just as the boss told him to. The man said he'd cancel me out if I told anyone that I'd seen him burying the money in the field. Because she's the prosecution's star witness, I'm worried that the mob will cancel her out before she ever gets a chance to testify against them.

5. To cease one's involvement in something. We can't cancel out now—everyone is relying on us! Aw man, I'm gonna have to cancel out of the play—its rehearsals conflict with softball practice. But you guys are always the life of the party! Things will be so dull if you cancel out.

See also: cancel, out

cancel out of (something)

To cease one's involvement in something. I had to cancel out of the play when I realized that its rehearsals conflicted with softball practice. But you guys are always the life of the party! Things will be so dull if you cancel out of the event. We can't cancel out of the fundraiser now—everyone is relying on us!

canceled

Having been permanently rejected, spurned, disregarded, or dismissed. Said especially of a celebrity or other public figure who has been treated in such a way after having committed or been accused of criminal, offensive, or otherwise troublesome actions, especially sexual misconduct or bigoted statements. After today's revelation, can we all just agree that he's canceled? Harvey Weinstein is just one of the prominent men in Hollywood who have been effectively canceled in the wake of the Me Too movement. A: "You think that actor will get canceled?" B: "He should—continually posting racist statements on social media is not OK."

cancel each other out

[for the opposite effects of two things] to balance each other. The cost of the meal you bought and what I owed you cancel each other out, so we're even. They canceled out each other.

cancel out (of something)

to withdraw from something. I hate to cancel out of the event at the last minute, but this is an emergency. It's too late to cancel out.

See also: cancel, out

cancel someone out of something

and cancel someone out

1. to eliminate someone from something (as from a list of names). We had to cancel them out. We canceled out all the people who did not show up.

2. Sl. to eliminate someone; to kill someone. The drug lord threatened to cancel out his former partner for testifying against him.

cancel someone's Christmas

Sl. to kill someone; to destroy someone. (Underworld or jocular; the idea is that the dead person will not live until Christmas.) If he keeps bugging me, I'm gonna cancel his Christmas. Willie threatened to cancel Richard's Christmas if Richard didn't pay up.

cancel something out

to balance the effects of something. Sending flowers might cancel the bad feelings out. The last payment canceled out the debt.

See also: cancel, out

cancel out

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.

See also: cancel, out

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cancel out

1. To delete or erase something: I went back to the list and canceled out my name. Realizing the total was incorrect, I canceled it out and recalculated the price.

2. To equalize or make up for something; offset something: Today's decline in the stock's price canceled out yesterday's gain. We made record progress last month, but the delays this month have canceled it out. I never go to the beach because the fun of swimming in the ocean and the difficulty of getting to the beach cancel out.

3. To remove a common factor from both sides of a mathematical equation: After I canceled out the common factors, I could easily solve for the variable. When two factors are equal, you can cancel them out.

4. To withdraw from something, as an activity or obligation: They had dinner reservations with us, but they had to cancel out when they couldn't find a babysitter.

5. Slang To murder someone: The loan shark threatened to cancel me out if I didn't pay him the money. The gangsters vowed to cancel out any rivals.

See also: cancel, out

cancel someone out of something

tv. to eliminate someone; to kill someone. The drug lord threatened to cancel out his former partner for testifying against him.

See also: cancel, of, out, someone, something

cancel someone’s Christmas

tv. to kill someone; to destroy someone. (Underworld. The dead person will miss Christmas.) If he keeps bugging me, I’m gonna cancel his Christmas.