neaten
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have neatenedperfect
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has neatenedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been neateningperfect progressive
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has been neateningperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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neateningparticiple
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am neateningprogressive 1st person singular
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neatenssingular 3rd person
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is neateningprogressive 3rd person singular
-
are neateningprogressive
Past
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had neatenedperfect
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had been neateningperfect progressive
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was neateningprogressive singular
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neatenedparticiple
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neatenedsimple
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were neateningprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of neaten
Explanation
To neaten is to tidy up or to clean. You can neaten your room by making your bed and throwing your dirty clothes in the laundry basket. When you turn disorder into order, you neaten. You might neaten your car by throwing away the accumulated soda cans and brushing crumbs off the seats, or neaten your outfit by straightening your tie and tucking in your shirt. Neaten comes from neat, "tidy or clean," from the Middle French net, "clear or pure." The root is the Latin nitere, "to shine."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Few things neaten a naturalistic garden like fresh edging around beds.
From Washington Post • Mar. 8, 2023
I would neaten myself up and tell them I could work whatever hours they wanted.
From The Guardian • Feb. 27, 2013
They fundamentally try to neaten things up and make it look more rational than it is.
From Salon • Oct. 6, 2012
Many of these trees, typically 100 years old or more according to Australia’s DEC, have been lost to logging or development, or to people trying to neaten up their properties.
From Scientific American • Mar. 13, 2012
I balance the tray in one hand and sweep up the spoon, taking a moment to neaten the crockery before approaching the door.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
