Question

Which of the following alternatives best expresses the meaning of the phrase ‘call off’?
a. demand or require
b. withdraw, cancel
c. evoke, bring about
d. recollect
e. pay a visit to

Answer 1

Hint: The phrase ‘call off’ means to abandon something. When you call off a plan, you are revoking it.

Complete step-by-step answer:

‘Call off’ is an idiom. Idioms are phrases that have a metaphorical meaning. Their true meaning does not lie in their face value, but in a metaphor that represents the sum of their parts. The meaning of this idiom is to rescind a certain plan or initiative. We can guess the meaning of this phrase from the word ‘off’ which is part of this idiom. The word off means to go away. Thus, when you are calling off something, you are deciding that it will not occur.
Let us look at an example.
The trip was called off on account of low funds.
Here, we can see that the trip was canceled because of a lack of funds. As the people were short on money, they decided to cancel the trip altogether. It is plausible that if the adequate funds had been present, the trip would have materialized. However, as this was not so, the decision to override the original decision was made.
Now, let us look at the question. We have been asked to choose the alternative which means the same as ‘to call off’. This meaning is best described by option ‘b’ withdraw, cancel as we have seen in the explanation provided. Therefore, option ‘b’ is the correct answer.

Note: If you don’t know the meaning of this phrase, you can break it down and look at its component words individually so as to comprehend its meaning.