Straighten Meaning
/ˈstɹeɪtn̩/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo cause to become straight.
verbTo become straight.
Sentence Examples
Let's straighten up the desk.
I want you to straighten up the environment a little more.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
She used a hot iron to ____ the wrinkled shirt before the important meeting.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She stopped to ____ the colorful pictures on the wall that had become slightly crooked over time.
Word Origin & History
From straight + -en. Compare Scots strauchten (“to straighten”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[S]o / Do these upbear the little world below / Of Education,—Patience, Love, and Hope. / Methinks, I see them group'd in seemly show, / The straiten'd arms upraised, the palms aslope, / And robes that touching as adown they flow, / Distinctly blend, like snow emboss'd in snow."
— 1830, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “[Sibylline Leaves.] Love, Hope, and Patience in Education.”, in The Poetical and Dramatic Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge […], volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1880, →OCLC, page 334:
"Tuilagi and Ashton started in lively fashion, centre Tuilagi doing what he does best, straightening and bursting into the line, and Ashton always looking to leave his wing and get involved in the action."
— 2011 September 24, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 67-3 Romania”, in BBC Sport:
"It has been said that to survive in this Wasp society, Blacks must straighten their hair, Jews must straighten their noses, and Gays must straighten themselves. But we will no longer tolerate being straightened. It is the doctors and the straight society who must change."
— 1973 December 22, Satya, “It Is Not We Who Must Change”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 27, page 3:
"It raises the prospect that pregnant women could one day be offered a treatment to reduce or eliminate the chance that their offspring will be homosexual. Experts say that, in theory, the "straightening" procedure on humans could be as simple as a hormone supplement for mothers-to-be, worn on the skin like an anti-smoking nicotine patch."
— 2006 December 31, Isabel Oakeshott, Chris Gourlay, “Science Told: Hands Off Gay Sheep”, in The Sunday Times:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She used a hot iron to ____ the wrinkled shirt before the important meeting.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She stopped to ____ the colorful pictures on the wall that had become slightly crooked over time.