square away


verb(adverb)
  1. to set the sails of (a square-rigger) at right angles to the keel

  2. (tr) US and Canadian to make neat and tidy

Words Nearby square away

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use square away in a sentence

  • But at last, on Monday afternoon, at four oclock, the storm quieted so we were able to square away again for the Windward Passage.

  • At meridian, therefore, I gave the order to square away, and to make sail on our course.

    Afloat And Ashore | James Fenimore Cooper
  • Then suddenly the stillness of the hour was broken by the loud report of a pistol not half a square away.

    Jerry's Reward | Evelyn Snead Barnett
  • The captain of the barque gave the order to sling the dinghy on deck and square away again.

    A Desperate Voyage | Edward Frederick Knight
  • He knew he would not feel safe until he was a square away from the house.

Other Idioms and Phrases with square away

square away

Put in order; also, get ready for. For example, Once we've got the files squared away, we can decide on next year's repertory, or She had to square away the house before leaving town. This expression uses square in the sense of “arrange in accordance with some principle,” indirectly alluding to the geometric square. [Early 1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.