call off

verb

"call-off" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“call off” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To recall; to cancel or call a halt to.

Corpus desk

Index EN-call-off · call off · English

call off · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for call off
PropertyValue
Headwordcall off
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “call off” in English

call offsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

call off is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

call off doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is call off, spelled C-A-L-L- -O-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    To recall; to cancel or call a halt to.
  2. 2
    To telephone in one's notice of a day's absence from work.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how call off appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. If you want me to call off the dog, then get off my land.
  2. After four months, the police called off the search for the missing boy.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "call off"?
"call off" is spelled C-A-L-L- -O-F-F.
What does "call off" mean?
As a verb, "call off" means: To recall; to cancel or call a halt to.
What language does "call off" come from?
"call off" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list