Meanings
present singular third person overcancels · US participle present overcanceling · UK participle present overcancelling · US participle past overcanceled · US past overcanceled · UK participle past overcancelled · UK past overcancelled
- To cancel too many or too forcefully.
Don't overcancel our FDCs. Don't obliterate with felt-tipped markers.
1995, The American philatelist - Volume 109, Issues 1-6, page 4182 more examples
Note that there can still be feedback, however, if the gain is so high as to "overcancel" the input signal with the higher level output.
1970, 1970, Amateur Radio - Volume 26, page 58The self-diffusivities of a rod, in general, decrease with the concentration because of the rod entanglement and hydrodynamic interaction, but the excluded volume effect in the polarized scattering largely cancels (and sometimes overcancels) the decrease.
2012, Akira Onuki, Kyozi Kawasaki, Dynamics and Patterns in Complex Fluids
Origin
Cite this entry
overcancel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overcancel
“overcancel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overcancel. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overcancel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overcancel.
Source: overcancel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.