straighten

American  

[streyt-n] / ˈstreɪt n /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to make or become straight in direction, form, position, character, conduct, condition, etc. (often followed by up orout ).

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straighten British  

/ ˈstreɪtən /

verb

1. to make or become straight

2. (tr) to make neat or tidy

   straighten your desk

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Other Word Forms

• overstraighten verb
• prestraighten verb (used with object)
• restraighten verb
• straightener noun
• unstraightened adjective
• well-straightened adjective

Etymology

Origin of straighten

First recorded in 1535–45; straight + -en ¹

Example Sentences

He straightens it out and enhances its faded colour with careful strokes of a pencil.

From BBC

In September, he said that cities with Democratic political leadership such as San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles “are very unsafe places and we are going to straighten them out.”

From Los Angeles Times

“The tears that I have shed over this, the frustration, the hours on the phone, trying to get it straightened out,” said Reisen, who lives in the Philadelphia area.

From MarketWatch

She says every effort thereafter to straighten things out met the runaround.

From The Wall Street Journal

He has said that cities with Democratic political leadership such as San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles “are very unsafe places and we are going to straighten them out.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• rectify
• uncoil