straighten out

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

straighten out (third-person singular simple present straightens out, present participle straightening out, simple past and past participle straightened out)

1. (transitive) To make straight.

   Straighten out your necktie and comb your hair.

   • 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M. Hill Co., →OCLC:

     "Then bring them to me," she said. And when the tinsmiths came, bringing with them all their tools in baskets, she inquired, "Can you straighten out those dents in the Tin Woodman, and bend him back into shape again, and solder him together where he is broken?"

2. (transitive, idiomatic) To correct or rectify.

   I hope they can straighten out the problem with my bill soon.

3. (transitive, idiomatic) To eliminate confusion from or concerning.

   As soon as I straighten out which of the twins is which, I'll start calling them by their names.

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

     “What have they done to stir him up?” “It's this book Daddy wrote about preparatory schools. He wrote a book about preparatory schools. Did you know he had written a book about preparatory schools?” “Hadn't an inkling. Nobody tells me anything.” “Well, he wrote this book about preparatory schools. It was about preparatory schools.” “About preparatory schools, was it?” “Yes, about preparatory schools.” “Thank God we've got that straightened out at last. I had a feeling we should get somewhere if we dug long enough. And – ?”

4. (intransitive, idiomatic) To correct; to stop doing something wrong.

   It is not enough to stand aside and hope problems straighten out on their own.

5. (transitive) To tidy, neaten, or organize.

Translations

make straight

• German: richten (de), gerade biegen, gerade richten, glätten (de), entzerren (de), ausbeulen (de)
• Spanish: enderezar (es)

correct or rectify

• German: in Ordnung bringen, korrigieren (de), ausbügeln (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: κατορθόω (katorthóō)

• Latin: corrigo
• Spanish: arreglar (es)

eliminate confusion

• German: klarstellen (de)
• Spanish: aclarar (es)

stop doing something wrong

• German: auf den rechten Weg kommen

tidy, neaten, or organize

• German: aufräumen (de)
• Spanish: ordenar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Khmer: កែ (km) (kae)