to straighten
195
1.6
- verb
- /ˈstreɪtən/
- After the party, I spent the afternoon straightening the living room and putting everything back in order.
- straighten things
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Watch on YouTubeSo it kind of straightens up someone's diet, you know, quite nicely.
- So it kind of straightens up someone's diet, you know, quite nicely.
- So I'm about to straighten all of this.
Examples
-
There is a whole lot wrong with California that has to be straightened out.
Academic text (1997) -
Magazines and newspapers are straightened, and sofa pillows plumped twice a day.
Academic text (2004) -
I was just hoping you could call my boss back home and straighten things out for me.
-
I'm gonna have to straighten this whole thing out.
-
OK, we have a little bit of what looks like water damage there, but we will be able to straighten that up now, won't we?
-
We aren't getting anywhere. The lawyer said, "Well, I think I can straighten this out."
Academic text (1992) -
Naturally, that's when the client calls to ask that you straighten the whole thing out.
Academic text (2002) -
There's no beef, just something I'd like to get straightened out.
-
Gathered stray socks, made his bed, straightened the towel in the bathroom.
Fiction book (1991) -
Already he has restocked and straightened the shelves, filled the cooler, mopped the floor, and cleaned.
Fiction book (1990)
Synonyms
841
1.0
To make a room or area free of dirt and tidy by removing mess
117
2.6
Tidy a bed or room so it looks neat
112
1.7
To put things or information in a clear, neat order
44
1.0
To make a place neat by putting things away
37
3.4
To change the way something is arranged to make it work better
36
1.5
Make a room or desk neat by putting things in their right place
29
4.1
To make a place or person look neat and smart
25
3.8
To make yourself or a place look cleaner and nicer
12
2.7
Make a room neat by putting things away
5
8.0
To make something look neater and more attractive with small changes
4
3.6
To make something tidy and ready to use
3
7.2
Make a person or place look neater and nicer by cleaning and adding small things
1
3.7
To make something tidy by arranging things in order
1
3.2
To make a place tidy and organized
To tidy a messy place and put things in order
Getting your home and things tidy and ready
Antonyms
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
How Tidy
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Straighten is built from straight + -en, and it also came to mean 'put in order' because making things straight often means lining them up. So to straighten a room or books is to arrange them neatly in a straight line or in order.