square one's shoulders

verb

To position one's shoulders back and in a straight line, forming a sort of square's edge.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbsquare one's shoulders (third-person singular simple present squares one's shoulders, present participle squaring one's shoulders, simple past and past participle squared one's shoulders)

present singular third person squares one's shoulders · participle present squaring one's shoulders · participle past squared one's shoulders · past squared one's shoulders

  1. To position one's shoulders back and in a straight line, forming a sort of square's edge.
  2. figurativelyTo prepare to deal with a hard task, to ready oneself for difficulty.

    Aelin squared her shoulders and slipped into the bejeweled crowd.

    2015 September 1, Sarah J. Maas, Queen of Shadows, →ISBN
Cite this entry
APA

square one's shoulders. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/square%20one's%20shoulders

MLA

“square one's shoulders.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/square%20one's%20shoulders. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “square one's shoulders,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/square%20one's%20shoulders.

Source: square one's shoulders on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.