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🧍 To sit tall 🧹 To tidy
to straighten up

to straighten up

15 1.6
Sit or stand so your back and shoulders are straight
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈstreɪtən ʌp/
translation icon : enderezarse
  • Gradually, he straightened up and the animal slowed by increments until it was trotting again.
  • straightened up slowly
  • then straightened up
  • Straightened up and looked

And then he took a couple of steps off and they relaxed, straightened up and went back to just then what he did was he walked in a zigzag fashion.

Examples

  • Once out of the circle, he finally straightened up and looked about.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Straighten up and act normal.

    Billy Jack (1971)

  • Okay, boys, come on, straighten up.

    The Bad News Bears (1976)

  • "Why, what would you do then, straighten up and be normal before I make it down the hall?"

    Fiction book (1993)

  • You all straighten up and walk sober, all right?

    Stop-Loss (2008)

  • Straighten up, walk like a lady.

    Real Women Have Curves (2002)

  • Straighten up your back, honey.

    Scum of the Earth! (1963)

  • "Lily let out her breath through closed lips and straightened up."

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Painfully, he straightened up, then sat down on the toilet seat to wait.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • It's important to straighten up at your desk to avoid back pain during long hours of work.

Synonyms

to sit up
vsto straighten up
126 1.0

To move from lying down to an upright position

applies to posture changes both when standing and when becoming upright from lower positions
to straighten
vsto straighten up
114 2.5

Make something straight and in the right position

is limited to adjusting someone's own posture to become more erect
to pull up
vsto straighten up
50 3.0

To stand or sit up straight to look more confident

is neutral posture adjustment without the deliberate formal or confident aim
to draw up
vsto straighten up
1 3.9

To straighten the body to stand taller

is about posture change without aiming to display pride or authority

Antonyms

to slouch
22 4.6

To sit, stand, or walk with the shoulders and head bent forward in a lazy way

stoop
2 4.8

A forward bend of the upper body often from age or habit

How Upright

to stand at attention
  • Formal
9 4.2
to stand
∞ 1.0
to straighten up
15 1.6
to sit up
126 1.0
to slouch
22 4.6

Surface Forms

straighten up infinitive
straightened up past
straightened up past participle
straightening up present participle
straightens up third person singular

Morphology

straighten + up

The verb 'straighten' (make straight or correct) combined with the particle 'up' yields a completive/intensive sense (finish straightening), which plausibly extends to putting items in order or tidying a room. Because the cleaning/tidying meaning is an extended, somewhat metaphorical use of 'make straight' rather than a strictly literal combination, a B1 learner can partly infer it but may not predict the exact sense without some exposure.

Etymology

Straighten up comes from the simple action of making your body straight: you straighten your back and sit or stand up tall like a straight line. So the phrase means 'to sit or stand with good posture' and often to look more confident.