Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use straighten in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb

Straighten means to cause to become straight. Example: “He assumed that the girls should clean up his giant mess. We straightened out his misconception.”

Examples of straighten by meaning

verbTo put in order; to sort; to tidy up.

  • to straighten one's affairs
  • straighten one's account
  • 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

verbTo make heterosexual.

  • 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.1973 December 22, Satya, “It Is Not We Who Must Change”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 27, page 3
  • 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

More sentences with straighten

  • He assumed that the girls should clean up his giant mess. We straightened out his misconception.From the entry girl
  • The circus strong man proved his strength by bending an iron rod, and then straightening it.From the entry rod
  • That picture is crooked - could you straighten it up for me?From the entry crooked
  • I hope they can straighten out the problem with my bill soon.From the entry straighten out
  • It is not enough to stand aside and hope problems straighten out on their own.From the entry straighten out
  • The ASC straightened in his chair, casting a blinkenlight shadow over them.2023 October 8, HarryBlank, “Taking the Lead”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 25 May 2024. From the entry blinkenlight
  • He straightened, and it might have been my imagination, but he seemed to get even taller.2021 November, E.J. Russell, chapter 14, in The Hound of the Burgervilles (Quest Investigations; 2), Reality Optional Press, →ISBN. From the entry humongosity
  • The mesogastriums were extracted en bloc from the stomach, straightened and measured for their length and width.2015 November 14, “Detection and Characterization of Metastatic Cancer Cells in the Mesogastrium of Gastric Cancer Patients”, in PLOS ONE…. From the entry mesogastrium
  • She shrugged, popped her gum, straightened up with a little headflip.2012, James Axler, The Lost Scrolls. From the entry headflip
  • She straightened her dress and foofed her hair as she jostled herself into position.2011, Cate Kendall, Armani Angels, page 12. From the entry foof
  • She straightened up quickly to tug her dress down and turned to see Glennis.2010, Julie Cannon, Mater Biscuit, page 239. From the entry I see London, I see France
  • What we need to straighten this mess out is both tyrannicide and homocide.2006 March 31, Bob, “Re: Weirder election than Battlestar Galactica's”, in alt.battlestar-galactica (Usenet). From the entry Islamicide
  • Going through store, straightening, putting away books left lying around by customers.2002, Gayle Backstrom, I'd Rather be Working, page 230. From the entry desticker
  • The quadricep is a group of four muscles that extend or straighten your knee.2000, Jennifer Rhodes, Joan E. Edelstein, Peak Performance Fitness, →ISBN, page 37. From the entry quadricep
  • Karli shook himself, drove home the last nail with a flat stone, straightened up.1996, Harry Harrison, One King's Way, page 186. From the entry drive home
  • I do rather a good morepork.’ Bernard sat up, straightened his shoulders. ‘More pork.1992, Barbara Anderson, chapter 8, in Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, Wellington: Victoria University Press, published 2002, →ISBN, page 141. From the entry morepork
  • I never did get all the engineers straightened out — they weren't in L & S.1987, Lincoln Constance, Versatile Berkeley Botanist, page 211. From the entry misintroduce
  • We are going to give you a bolus of lidocaine, and it will all straighten out."1986, Robert DeBellis, Suffering: Psychological and Social Aspects in Loss, Grief, and Care, Psychology Press. From the entry not to worry
  • Now, we are going to straighten up and fly right is what was said.1973, United States, Foreign assistance and related agencies appropriations for 1974, hearings …, 93-1, Subcommittee on Foreign Operations…. From the entry straighten up and fly right
  • Administrators are running around straightening out deck chairs while the Titanic goes down.1972 May 15, Joseph Eger, “Listening to the Vibes”, in New York Times, page 34. From the entry rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic
  • He turned on the loudspeaker on his belt and straightened up.1967, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, volume 80, page 66. From the entry badthink
  • "What, exactly, happened down cellar?" Appleyard asked, straightening with his heel a rucked rug.1959, Peter De Vries, The Tents of Wickedness, page 28. From the entry ruck
  • Eva straightened out her dress as she sat down, and Mickey ran over to her.1946, James T. Farrell, Bernard Clare. From the entry feeded
  • A pointsman's back straightened itself upright suddenly against a tramway standard by Mr Bloom's window.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 6: Hades]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 88. From the entry pointsman
  • I became acquainted with callithump when I straightened out the asparagus-bed.1919, Albert Bigelow Paine, Dwellers in Arcady: The Story of an Abandoned Farm. From the entry callithump
  • The thin, nearsighted young woman who had been humped over the keyboard of the melodeon, straightened up.1909, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 5, in Keziah Coffin. From the entry melodeon
  • We lay low until the shell went over and then would straighten up again.1904, A Committee of the Survivors, History of the Twelfth Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteers, in The Civil War, page 219. From the entry lay low
  • I’m sorry, girls,” she told them, straightening up.2023, M. W. Arnold, chapter 34, in The Lumberjills, book 1, Adams Basin, N.Y.: The Wild Rose Press, Inc., →ISBN. From the entry heckers
  • So now she's grapevined me, I can't straighten my legs, which means I can't generate the momentum I need to bridge.2022, David Young, Sean Black, The Ground Is My Ocean. From the entry grapevine
  • This led to a great deal of straightening and culverting, which in turn led to a massive loss of biodiversity.2020, Ben Aaronovitch, False Value, Gollancz, pages 234–235. From the entry culvert
  • It straightened and bounced back to its former loopy state.2016, Lexi George, Demon Hunting With a Dixie Deb, unnumbered page. From the entry hairmageddon
  • Baxter gripped the handle with his free hand and straightened his ball-hand in front of him, resembling a club-fisted Superman.2014, Edward W. Robertson, Titans. From the entry clubfisted
  • But Armitage did get on the score-sheet five minutes later, Ben Foden straightening and putting the London Irish man in.2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport. From the entry width
  • Now straighten up slowly again, and sit loosely.2005, Heike Lebherz, Riding For Pleasure. From the entry straighten up
  • She bent over and gave her hair a good brushing, then straightened and pushed the bangs to one side.2003, Patricia Frederick, Over the Hill. From the entry gussie up

Meaning of straighten

  1. verb To cause to become straight.
  2. verb To become straight.
  3. verb To put in order; to sort; to tidy up.

Full definition of straighten

Questions about straighten in a sentence

How do you use straighten in a sentence?
Straighten is used as a verb. For example: “He assumed that the girls should clean up his giant mess. We straightened out his misconception.”
What is a short sentence with straighten?
“straighten one's account”
What does straighten mean?
Straighten means to cause to become straight.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: straighten (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use straighten in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/straighten. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.