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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

straighten up en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (intransitive) To become straight, or straighter.
    • 2006, American Motoryclist - Jan 2006, Victory's Kingpin goes its own way bank the big cruiser into the first of a series of corners, make a few quick left, right, left transitions, then the road straightens up for a stretch...
  2. (ambitransitive) To steer straight.
    • 13 October 2010, Blackpool Gazette, 'Bad driving' led to biker death crash He said "As I came out of the bend I went to straighten up the car and it just seemed to be carrying on turning."
  3. (intransitive) To sit up straight, to stop hunching.
    • Horse skin smells good. Lay your cheek against his neck and have a good cuddle. Now straighten up slowly again, and sit loosely. 2005, Heike Lebherz, Riding For Pleasure:
  4. (transitive) To deal with; to put in order.
    • 1994, Mccook Daily Gazette, Jul 12, 1994, Mail Delivery Trying To Get Up To Speed The Postal Service sent a special task force to straighten up the city's problems with a back-to-basics approach
  5. (transitive) To tidy; to tidy up.
    • The lockers were all standing wide open with equipment and uniforms scattered all over the room, he had left a note under the bottle telling me to straighten up the room, then straighten myself up before coming to work the next day. 2005, Richard R. Simmons, A Long Hard Ride:
  6. (transitive) To clarify.
  7. (idiomatic, intransitive) To start living a reformed life; to adopt a more honest and respectable course of behavior.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
straightening up Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
straightens up Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
straightened up Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
straightened up Tense=Past lexicographic

Deriveds

straighten up and fly right