Cancel out meaning in English

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Definition

(The disadvantages) cancel out (the advantages): (The disadvantages) neutralize, counterbalance (the advantages) idiom

Examples

"We'll send you a credit note to cancel out the bad invoice with the lower price."

Exercise 1

"... in order to cancel out all the bad resonance"

Which of the following statements use the term "cancel out" correctly?

The demolition team used dynamite to cancel out the old bridge.

These audio headphones are designed to cancel out ambient noise.

The picnic was cancelled out by bad weather.

In my opinion, the advantages of living in a city are cancelled out by the disadvantages.

"... in order to cancel out all the bad resonance"

Which of the following statements use the term "cancel out" correctly?

The demolition team used dynamite to cancel out the old bridge.

This is an incorrect use of "to cancel out". "To cancel out" is not a synonym of "destroy" or "pull down".

These audio headphones are designed to cancel out ambient noise.

This is a correct use of "to cancel out". By producing a sound wave that is equal but opposite to the sound wave of noise from the surrounding environment, special headphones are able "to cancel out" or "neutralize" ambient noise.

The picnic was cancelled out by bad weather.

This is an incorrect use of "to cancel out". "To cancel out" is not used to describe the cancellation of an event. In this example, "to cancel" (on its own) is better. Example: The picnic was cancelled due to bad weather.

In my opinion, the advantages of living in a city are cancelled out by the disadvantages.

This is a correct use of "to cancel out". If two things cancel (each other) out, they are of equal importance but have an opposite effect. Example: Fortunately, recent profits have cancelled out our losses from early in the year.

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