iron out

present singular third person irons out · participle present ironing out · participle past ironed out · past ironed out

1. transitiveTo remove (a crease or creases) with an iron.

   That shirt still has a few more wrinkles to iron out.

2. transitiveTo make (something) flat or smooth as if with an iron.

   Dilatation of this type “irons out the folds” of the urethra, giving better drainage of the paraurethral glands, stimulating circulation and promoting rapid healing, especially when small doses (7½ gr. q.i.d.) of one of the triple-sulfonamides are given as an adjunct.

   1951 January, Gordon W. Reynolds, “The Female Urethra and Chronic Urethritis”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 1, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 34

3. figurativelytransitiveTo resolve (a dispute); to solve (a problem).

   Let's just sit down and iron out an agreement on this issue.

   3 more examples

   We need to iron out the wrinkles in the plan before implementing it.

   Since this involves 11 of the main pre-grouping companies, it will doubtless take a good deal of time and patience to iron out all the anomalies, but at least it will simplify many procedures and help to weld the Line into a single efficient unit.

   1964 November, P. F. Winding, “Re-shaping the LMR's North Western Line - 2”, in Modern Railways, page 346

   The latest in a series of software updates was introduced in late 2021, as Alstom and Crossrail work to iron out any final bugs from the train systems before they start operating through the core tunnels under central London.

   2022 January 12, “Network News: Crossrail takes delivery of final Class 345”, in RAIL, number 948, page 16

   Synonyms: puzzle out, resolve, work out, absolve, decipher, get to the bottom of, meliorate, cure

4. slangtransitiveTo thrash or beat up; to overwhelm in a fight.

   It was a WhatsApp message saying, 'do you want to fight Christmas time/December? Exhibition, who ever you want'. […] Of course I would [fight a YouTuber] - especially Jake Paul! I'd iron him out. He wouldn't fight me though, would he?

   2023 July 25, Jack Evanoff, quoting Carl Froch, “"Iron him out" - Former champion reveals talks about potential fight with Jake Paul”, in Sportskeeda

5. slangtransitiveTo kill.

   ‘I’ll f***king run out of the crowd with a f***king pillowcase, put it over his nut and just suffocate him.[’] […] He explained: ‘I think that’s the move because no-one’s going to iron him out and he needs to go don’t he, this geezer?[’]

   2023 June 27, Lucy Norris, “Danny Dyer vows to ‘kill Putin’ and explains how we would do it in explosive rant”, in Metro

   Synonyms: annihilate, bag, baptize, bereave of life, blight, bring down, bump off, bury