putting one's house in order
1
4.9
- idiom
:
poner en orden
- After a long week of work, he realized it was time for putting his house in order and decluttering the living room.
Examples
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Darling, have you put your house in order?
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He's come to put his house in order.
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Listen, you put your house in order or we're gonna do it for you.
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By the way, you guys need to put your house in order.
Blog text (24) -
Put your house in order.
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Before the big move, she spent the weekend putting her house in order to ensure everything was organized.
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The family decided to start putting their house in order by creating a cleaning schedule that everyone could follow.
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
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
24
9.9
To put your life in order and take care of your tasks
21
1.0
To make a house clean and tidy by removing dirt and putting things in order
12
3.2
To make a place tidy and organized
8
2.7
Make a room neat by putting things away
6
6.2
Arrange your personal, legal and money matters before a serious illness or death
5
3.0
To manage a home and do cleaning and cooking
1
7.0
Arrange your personal, money, and legal matters before illness or death
Antonyms
How Organized
Surface Forms
Morphology
put + one + house + in + order
The literal sense—tidying or arranging one's home—is directly derivable from the constituents ('put' + 'house' + 'in order') and would be clear to a B1 learner who knows the words. However, the common extended meaning of organising or putting one’s personal affairs in order is a metaphorical extension beyond the literal composition and not fully predictable without exposure, so the idiomatic range makes it only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrase putting one's house in order comes from the simple image of cleaning and arranging a real home: putting things in the right place, fixing small problems, and making every room tidy. That's why it now means 'organizing your life or affairs' and getting things ready so they work well.