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Cancel vs Delay vs Postpone

Cancel means to stop something with no intent to reschedule.

  • They had to cancel tomorrow’s game because of the bad weather.
  • to cancel a magazine subscription
  • No charge will be made if you cancel within 10 days.

Delay means to put off until further notice.

  • My plane was delayed by an hour.
  • For sentimental reasons I wanted to delay my departure until June.
  • I think we should delay deciding about this until next year.

Postpone means to cancel with the intent to reschedule.

  • The game has already been postponed three times.
  • We’ll have to postpone the meeting until next week.
  • We’ve had to postpone going to France because the children are ill.