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Synonyms

straighten up

British  

verb

  1. to become or cause to become erect

  2. to reform or become reformed

"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
straighten up Idioms  

  1. Make tidy, as in Let's get this room straightened up. [Second half of 1800s]

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.

I see him wipe his eyes and straighten up, his jaw clenching.

From Literature

“Well, Katherine and I were just drying dishes and straightening up. Why don’t you come join us in the kitchen?”

From Literature

For the next half hour, he straightened up and tried to fix the television as his sons, his daughter-in-law, and a grandchild gathered outside the house.

From Literature

Now, it is helping the company straighten up its balance sheet—and getting its hands on a major business in return.

From The Wall Street Journal

There shall be no more merriment, and in the words of Nat King Cole, it is time to straighten up and fly right.

From Salon

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.