STRAIGHTEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does straighten mean? 

• STRAIGHTEN (verb)
  The verb STRAIGHTEN has 6 senses:

1. straighten up or out; make straight

2. make straight

3. get up from a sitting or slouching position

4. put (things or places) in order

5. straighten by unrolling

6. make straight or straighter

  Familiarity information: STRAIGHTEN used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STRAIGHTEN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they straighten    ... he / she / it straightens   
Past simple: straightened   
Past participle: straightened   
-ing form: straightening   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Straighten up or out; make straight

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

straighten; unbend

Hypernyms (to "straighten" is one way to...):

change posture (undergo a change in bodily posture)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

bend (form a curve)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make straight

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

straighten; straighten out

Hypernyms (to "straighten" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "straighten"):

untwist (cause to become untwisted)

unbend (free from flexure)

extend (open or straighten out; unbend)

channelise; channelize (cause to form a channel)

untwine (undo what has been twined together)

unweave (undo strands that have been woven together)

comb (straighten with a comb)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

straightener (a device for straightening)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Get up from a sitting or slouching position

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The students straightened when the teacher entered

Hypernyms (to "straighten" is one way to...):

change posture (undergo a change in bodily posture)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "straighten"):

rear; rise up (stand up on the hind legs, of quadrupeds)

draw up; pull up; straighten up (straighten oneself)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Put (things or places) in order

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

clean up; neaten; square away; straighten; straighten out; tidy; tidy up

Context example:

Tidy up your room!

Hypernyms (to "straighten" is one way to...):

order (bring order to or into)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "straighten"):

make; make up (put in order or neaten)

clean; clean house; houseclean (clean and tidy up the house)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Straighten by unrolling

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

roll out; straighten

Context example:

roll out the big map

Hypernyms (to "straighten" is one way to...):

disentangle; unwind (separate the tangles of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make straight or straighter

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

straighten hair

Hypernyms (to "straighten" is one way to...):

arrange; set up (put into a proper or systematic order)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They straighten their hair

Also:

straighten out (make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear)

straighten out (extricate from entanglement)

 Context examples 

He roused himself as from sleep, and straightened up with an effort.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

If you’ll come with me in the boat, we’ll get to work and straighten things out.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It's grand fun and will straighten you up capitally.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to straighten it?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There is a tangle here which needs straightening out.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Here, you, One Ear!" he cried, straightening up and turning around on the dog.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The whole inexplicable tangle seemed to straighten out before me.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"But you tell the manager I'm going to work and that I'll be in in a month or so and straighten up."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He straightened himself then, and I saw that what he held in his hand was a sort of gun, with a curiously misshapen butt.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Cosmetic dentistry is different from orthodontic treatment, which can straighten your teeth with braces or other devices.

(Cosmetic Dentistry, NIH)