called-offs
|called-offs|
🇺🇸
/ˈkɔldˌɔfs/
🇬🇧
/ˈkɔːldˌɒfs/
(call off)
cancel / call away
Etymology
'call off' is a phrasal verb formed from the verb 'call' and the particle 'off'. 'Call' comes from Old Norse 'kalla' (to call), and 'off' comes from Old English 'of'/'of-'/'offan' indicating away or away from.
'call' passed into Middle English as 'callen' (from Old Norse 'kalla'); the particle 'off' comes from Old English forms meaning 'away'. The combination as the phrasal verb 'call off' developed in Early Modern English and by the 17th–18th centuries acquired senses such as 'order away' and later 'cancel'.
Originally the combination could mean 'to call away' or 'order away'; over time the sense shifted to 'to cancel' (i.e., to call something off so it does not take place).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
plural form of 'called-off' — instances of something being cancelled; cancellations.
There were three called-offs this week.
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Verb 1
related to the phrasal verb 'call off' (base form). 'Called' is the past tense/past participle of 'call' used with the particle 'off' to mean 'cancel'. (Note: 'called-offs' as given is not a standard verb form.)
The meeting was called off, not that someone used the form called-offs.
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Last updated: 2025/12/19 06:28