go straight

Idioms  

1. Become a law-abiding person; abandon crime. For example, Once he got out on probation, he swore he would go straight. The use of straight in the sense of “honest” dates from the 1500s and probably alludes to the opposite of crooked, used in the sense of “dishonest” from the 13th century on.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

go straight

Washington gives Amman roughly $1.45 billion annually, including around $800 million that go straight to government coffers for budgetary support.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

"They go straight into status asthmaticus and… unless you intubate them within a certain time, if they have a respiratory arrest, you have four minutes, otherwise they're brain dead," she explains.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Synear Foods’ pork-and-mushroom shumai, sold at Costco and H Mart, can go straight from the freezer to the steamer and be served right in the basket.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

When broaching this conversation, don’t go straight into money talk, says Matt Abrahams, a communication consultant and lecturer in organizational behavior at Stanford University.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 25, 2026

They must go straight to bed, with no playing, laughing, or even talking.

From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder