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Glite Dictionary
to square away

to square away

18 3.6
To make something tidy and ready to use
  • phrasal verb
  • /skwɛr əˈweɪ/
  • US
translation icon : poner en orden
  • Before the meeting, let's make sure to square away all our documents and notes.
  • get squared away
  • things squared away

So he got his passport squared away.

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Examples

  • Decker said, "I'm going to take you downstairs to booking until I can get everything squared away."

    Fiction book (1995)

  • I've got to get myself squared away somehow, and maybe getting back to school will help.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Did it get squared away?

    The Woman in the Window (2021)

  • You get them all squared away down there?

    Wild at Heart (1990)

  • It's just until I get myself squared away.

    Hansel and Gretel (1983)

  • I mean, I know this is hard, but this is all going to get squared away soon, you know, I promise.

    Alpha Dog (2006)

  • "Basically, we're trying to get these guys as squared away as possible so the next unit has something to work with."

    Academic text (2010)

  • "So," said Dad, "did you get everything squared away?"

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Let's get you squared away.

    The Goldfinch (2019)

  • If you could help them get squared away, I'd appreciate it.

    The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

Synonyms

to set up
vsto square away
983 2.7

To assemble and prepare equipment or objects so they are ready to use

stresses making items tidy or complete as well as ready for use
to clean up
vsto square away
433 1.0

To make a room or area free of dirt and tidy by removing mess

adds preparation so items are complete or ready, not only cleaned
to straighten
vsto square away
161 1.6

Make a place or things tidy and in order

aims to have things ready and complete rather than only in order
to tidy
vsto square away
42 1.0

To make a place neat by putting things away

focuses on making items ready or complete rather than only neat
to tidy up
vsto square away
  • Informal
32 1.5

Make a room or desk neat by putting things in their right place

prepares items to be ready or complete rather than only making them neat
to straighten out
vsto square away
12 3.2

To make a place tidy and organized

focuses on preparing items so they are complete or ready rather than only orderly
to straighten up
vsto square away
8 2.7

Make a room neat by putting things away

emphasizes arranging items so they are complete or ready rather than only neat
to neaten
vsto square away
1 3.7

To make something tidy by arranging things in order

adds the sense of preparing items fully ready rather than only making them neat

Antonyms

scatter
8 4.0

A group of things or people spread over a wide area with no order

to disorganize
  • US
4 4.5

To make something lose its order or structure

How Organized

to finalize
  • US
74 3.8
to square away
  • US
18 3.6
to organize
  • US
662 1.6
to arrange
162 1.7
to tidy up
  • Informal
32 1.5
to prepare
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

square away infinitive
squared away past
squared away past participle
squaring away present participle
squares away third person singular

Morphology

square + away

There is a partial compositional link: 'square' can carry senses of 'settle' or 'make even' and 'away' often contributes a sense of completion or removal, so together they suggest putting something in order. However, the specific sense 'arrange/prepare so it is ready' is somewhat idiomatic/more specialized (often military/formal) and not fully predictable for a B1 learner from the literal meanings alone.

Etymology

Square away may come from old sailors who needed everything neat on a ship: they would make sails and ropes square, meaning even and in the right place, and put them away so the ship was ready. So today square away means 'to arrange or prepare something so it is tidy and ready'.