cancel

views updated May 23 2018

can·cel / ˈkansəl/ • v. (-celed, -cel·ing; Brit. -celled, -cel·ling) [tr.] 1. decide or announce that (an arranged or planned event) will not take place: he was forced to cancel his visit. ∎  annul or revoke (a formal arrangement which is in effect): his visa was canceled. ∎  abolish or make void (a financial obligation): I intend to cancel your debt to me. ∎  mark, pierce, or tear (a ticket, check, or postage stamp) to show that it has been used or invalidated: [as adj.] canceled checks.2. (of a factor or circumstance) neutralize or negate the force or effect of (another): the electric fields may cancel each other out. ∎  Math. delete (an equal factor) from both sides of an equation or from the numerator and denominator of a fraction.• n. 1. a mark made on a postage stamp to show that it has been used.2. Printing a new page or section inserted in a book to replace the original text, typically to correct an error. ORIGIN: late Middle English (in the sense ‘obliterate or delete writing by drawing or stamping lines across it’): from Old French canceller, from Latin cancellare, from cancelli ‘crossbars.’

Cancel

views updated May 21 2018

Cancel

Resources

Cancel refers to an operation used in term mathematics to remove terms from an expression leaving it in a simpler form. For example, in the fraction 6/8, the factor 2 can be removed from both the numerator and the denominator leaving the irreducible fraction 3/4. In this instance the 2 is said to be canceled out of the expression. Canceling is particularly useful for solving algebraic equations. The solution to the equation x - 7 = 4 is obtained by adding 7 to each side of the equation resulting in x = 11. When we add 7 to the left side of the equation, we cancel the -7 and put the equation in a simpler form. Typically, canceling is performed by using inverse operations. These are operations such as multiplication and division or addition and subtraction which undo one another.

Resources

BOOKS

Bittinger, Marvin L, and Davic Ellenbogen. Intermediate Algebra: Concepts and Applications. 6th ed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 2001.

Blitzer, Robert. Algebra and Trigonometry. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.

Cancel

views updated May 21 2018

Cancel

Cancel refers to an operation used in term mathematics to remove terms from an expression leaving it in a simpler form. For example, in the fraction 6/8, the factor 2 can be removed from both the numerator and the denominator leaving the irreducible fraction 3/4. In this instance the 2 is said to be canceled out of the expression. Canceling is particularly useful for solving algebraic equations. The solution to the equation x - 7 = 4 is obtained by adding 7 to each side of the equation resulting in x = 11. When we add 7 to the left side of the equation, we cancel the -7 and put the equation in a simpler form. Typically, canceling is performed by using inverse operations. These are operations such as multiplication and division or addition and subtraction which "undo" one another.


Resources

books

Bittinger, Marvin L., and Davic Ellenbogen. Intermediate Algebra: Concepts and Applications. 6th ed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 2001.

Blitzer, Robert. Algebra and Trigonometry. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.

cancel

views updated May 23 2018

cancel XIV. — (O)F. canceller — L. cancellāre make lattice-wise, cross out (a writing), f. cancellus, pl. cancellī cross-bars (see CHANCEL).