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Business English vocabulary · Deadlines and Scheduling

Call off

Meaning in business english, with examples

/ˌkɔːl ˈɔːf/phrasal verbCore term

In business english, call off means: To cancel a meeting, event or plan, or to decide to stop something that was going to happen.

In Turkish: iptal etmek, vazgeçmek

How it is used

Slightly less formal than 'cancel' and very common in speech: 'The meeting's been called off', 'They called off the deal'. It is separable: 'call the meeting off' and 'call off the meeting' are both correct.

Example sentences

  1. The supplier visit was called off because of the strike.

  2. If we don't get the numbers by Tuesday, we'll have to call off the launch.

Common collocations

  • call off a meeting
  • call off the deal
  • call off a strike
  • be called off
  • postponeTo move a meeting, event or decision to a later time than the one originally planned.
  • rescheduleTo change the date or time of a meeting, call or event that was already planned.
  • push backTo move a planned date or time to later; also, to resist or argue against a request, plan or decision.
  • dealAn agreement between two or more sides, especially a business arrangement to buy, sell or work together on agreed terms.

More terms: Deadlines and Scheduling

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