straighten
Other forms: straightened; straightening; straightens
When you straighten something, you either unbend it or tidy it up. So you might straighten your legs, get off the couch, and straighten the room.
To make something straight is to straighten it. When you uncross your legs and stretch them out in front of you, you straighten them. And if you adjust a picture on the wall so it's perfectly level, you straighten it. In the the 14th century, the equivalent verb was straight — so in those days, your mom would have said, "Straight your bedroom before you go out with your friends!"
Definitions of straighten
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make straight or straighter
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make straight
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synonyms:
straighten out
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types:
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untwist
cause to become untwisted
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unbend
free from flexure
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extend
open or straighten out; unbend
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channelise, channelize
cause to form a channel
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untwine
undo what has been twined together
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unweave
undo strands that have been woven together
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comb
straighten with a comb
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roach
comb (hair) into a roach
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currycomb
clean (a horse) with a currycomb
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hackle, hatchel, heckle
comb with a heckle
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straighten up or out; make straight
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synonyms:
unbend
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type of:
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change posture
undergo a change in bodily posture
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change posture
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get up from a sitting or slouching position“The students straightened when the teacher entered”
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types:
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rear, rise up
stand up on the hind legs, of quadrupeds
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draw up, pull up, straighten up
straighten oneself
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rear back
rear backwards on its hind legs
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type of:
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change posture
undergo a change in bodily posture
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rear, rise up
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put (things or places) in order
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synonyms:
clean up, neaten, square away, straighten out, tidy, tidy up
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types:
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make, make up
put in order or neaten
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clean, clean house, houseclean
clean and tidy up the house
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G.I., GI
clean in preparation for inspection
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spring-clean
thoroughly clean the entire house, often done only once a year
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type of:
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order
bring order to or into
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straighten by unrolling
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synonyms:
roll out
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type of:
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disentangle, unwind
separate the tangles of
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disentangle, unwind
Pronunciation
US
/ˈstreɪtn/
UK
/ˈstreɪtɪn/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘straighten'.
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