Call off meaning
Call off means to decide that a planned event will not happen. It can also mean to order people or a dog to stop searching or attacking.
call something off
call off · called · calling
They called off the match because of the snow.
Call off meanings and examples
2 meanings, each with its own CEFR level. A level marked ~ is our estimate: Oxford and Cambridge give none for that meaning.
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1
Decide that a planned event will not happen
call something off
- They called off the match because of the snow.
- The wedding? They called it off two weeks before.
- Has the strike been called off yet?
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2
Order people or a dog to stop searching or attacking
call something off
- Police called off the search when it got dark.
- Please call your dog off! It’s scaring my kids.
- The rescue teams didn’t call off the search for three days.
Café orders
New friends
At the airport
Slova
Use call off in real conversations
- Learn new words with picture cards
- Talk with Felix, an AI tutor, about the things you love
- Short lessons at your level, a few minutes a day
Is call off separable?
Call off is separable: call off the meeting or call the meeting off. With a pronoun, the pronoun goes in the middle: call it off, not call off it.
Call off means the event will not happen at all. If it will happen later, use put off or postpone. It is very often passive: The game was called off.
Verb tenses for call off
| Present | I call off · she calls off |
|---|---|
| Past | called off |
| Present perfect | have called off |
| -ing form | calling off |
Common mistakes with call off
What learners often say, and what to say instead.
Wrong: The weather was bad, so they called off it.
Right: The weather was bad, so they called it off.
A pronoun goes between call and off.
Wrong: We called off the party to next Saturday.
Right: We put off the party until next Saturday.
Call off cancels; to move something later, use put off.
Wrong: The flight called off because of fog.
Right: The flight was cancelled because of fog.
Flights are cancelled; call off is used for events, strikes and searches.
Synonyms and opposites of call off
Words close to it, and words that mean the opposite.
Similar
- cancelthe one-word verb; used for flights and orders too
- put offmove an event to a later time
- scrapinformal, drop a plan completely
Opposite
- go aheadhappen as planned
- carry oncontinue doing something
Call off quiz
Three quick questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why.
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1It rained so hard that they ___ the outdoor concert.
Call off means cancel a planned event.
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2Choose the right sentence.
The event is the object, so use the passive: was called off.
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3“They called off the wedding.” Will the wedding happen next month?
Call off means it will not happen.
More phrasal verbs with call
5 phrasal verbs start with call. Test yourself on all of them in a few minutes.
Call off FAQ
Questions people ask about call off.
What is the difference between call off and put off?
Call off means cancel completely. Put off means move to a later date: They put off the trip until May.
What does call off the engagement mean?
It means a couple decide not to get married after they agreed to. Call off is very common with weddings and engagements.
Is call off formal?
It is neutral, and very common in news about sport, strikes and searches. In formal emails, cancel is also fine.
Use call off in real conversations
In Slova you learn new words with picture cards, then use them when you talk about the things you love. A few minutes a day, at your level.