to straighten out
12
3.2
- phrasal verb
- /ˈstreɪtən aʊt/
:
ordenar
- Before the guests arrive, please straighten out the living room to make it presentable.
- straighten out the mess
- straighten out the office
Examples
-
I owe it to them to try to straighten things out.
Academic text (1991) -
Now, let's straighten out the bedroom, so that I can take care of you.
-
Maybe I can straighten things out around here.
-
Uh, straighten out this side for me, will you?
-
Now, straighten out that bench.
-
In fact, before you leave for work, straighten out the garbage bags for me.
-
Well, we should have the whole thing straightened out in no time.
-
Yes, this house must be straightened out.
-
I gotta straighten everything out with Paulie or I'm dead.
Fiction book (1990) -
Just straighten this out.
Synonyms
433
1.0
To make a room or area free of dirt and tidy by removing mess
161
1.6
Make a place or things tidy and in order
100
3.1
To arrange items so they are ready and easy to see
48
2.6
Tidy a bed or room so it looks neat
43
3.4
To change the way something is arranged to make it work better
42
1.0
To make a place neat by putting things away
32
1.5
Make a room or desk neat by putting things in their right place
18
3.6
To make something tidy and ready to use
13
3.8
To make yourself or a place look cleaner and nicer
8
2.7
Make a room neat by putting things away
5
4.1
To remove things you do not need from a room or desk to make it tidy
1
5.8
To clean and tidy a room to make it ready to use
1
3.7
To make something tidy by arranging things in order
1
7.2
Make a person or place look neater and nicer by cleaning and adding small things
1
4.9
Getting your home and things tidy and ready
1
4.1
To remove things you do not need to make a place tidy and easier to use
To tidy a messy place and put things in order
To fix a serious problem left behind in a project or system
Antonyms
How Tidy
12
3.2
- US
3
6.7
- US
662
1.6
- Informal
32
1.5
1
3.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'straighten' (to put in order) plus the particle 'out' (a completive or thoroughness marker) yields a compositional sense of 'set right' or 'resolve', which can naturally extend metaphorically to 'put one's life/behaviour in order'. However, the shift from a literal physical ordering to improving personal conduct is a metaphorical extension that may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrasal verb straighten out comes from the simple picture of putting things in order: you straighten items and put them out neatly. Think of cleaning a messy desk and placing each book and paper where it belongs. That's why it means 'to make a place tidy or orderly'.