|
|
Definition of Straighten out
1. Verb. Settle or put right. "We need to iron out our disagreements"
2. Verb. Extricate from entanglement. "They straighten out their hair "; "Can you disentangle the cord?"
Generic synonyms: Order
Specialized synonyms: Loosen, Tease, Tease Apart, Ravel, Ravel Out, Unravel
Derivative terms: Disentanglement, Unsnarling
Antonyms: Entangle, Snarl
3. Verb. Change for the better. "The habitual cheater finally saw the light"
Generic synonyms: Ameliorate, Better, Improve, Meliorate
Related verbs: Reclaim, Rectify, Reform, Regenerate
Derivative terms: Reform, Reformation, Reformatory
4. Verb. Make straight.
Generic synonyms: Alter, Change, Modify
Specialized synonyms: Untwist, Unbend, Extend, Channelise, Channelize, Untwine, Unweave, Comb
Derivative terms: Straightener
5. Verb. Make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear. "Clear up the question of who is at fault"
Generic synonyms: Clarify, Clear Up, Elucidate
Derivative terms: Elucidation, Elucidation, Elucidative, Lucidity, Lucidity, Illumination
6. Verb. Put (things or places) in order. "Tidy up your room!"
Specialized synonyms: Make, Make Up, Clean, Clean House, Houseclean
Generic synonyms: Order
Definition of Straighten out
1. Verb. (transitive) To make straight. ¹
2. Verb. (transitive idiomatic) To correct or rectify. ¹
3. Verb. (transitive idiomatic) To eliminate confusion from or concerning. ¹
4. Verb. (intransitive idiomatic) To correct; to stop doing something wrong. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Straighten Out
Literary usage of Straighten out
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Popular Science Monthly by Harry Houdini Collection (Library of Congress) (1885)
"When the mouth is opened their elasticity causes them to straighten out like a
bow that is unbent, so that, at whatever distance the jaws are separated, ..."
2. Dictionary of Americanisms. by John Russell Bartlett (1877)
"straighten out this remarkable expression. " Which is which " explains itself,
as ordinarily heard. So does even the " but what" for " that," &c., ..."
3. Screw Machine Kinks by Fred Herbert Colvin, Frank Arthur Stanley (1908)
"boards, rather, that helped us straighten out a lot of samples and get rid of
some of the bunches of junk that were suspended on the old board. FIG. 30. ..."
4. The New International Encyclopædia edited by Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck, Frank Moore Colby (1904)
"The first chain feeds the fibres to the second, which runs much slo-,ver, the
effect being to comb or straighten out the fibres and draw them into a ..."
5. Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon by Oregon Supreme Court (1900)
"Then McGuire said that Nicolai would not be very able to straighten out his
matters, so that, when he had hold of the property and ..."
Other Resources:
