straighten out

present singular third person straightens out · participle present straightening out · participle past straightened out · past straightened out

1. transitiveTo make straight.

   Straighten out your necktie and comb your hair.

   2 more examples

   "Then bring them to me," she said. And when the tinsmiths came, bringing with them all their tools in baskets, she inquired, "Can you straighten out those dents in the Tin Woodman, and bend him back into shape again, and solder him together where he is broken?"

   1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC

   In recent times, the track has been straightened out and a new, somewhat characterless, station has been built just to the east.

   2025 April 2, “Saluting Scotland's magnificent Inter 7?”, in RAIL, number 1032, page 55

   Synonyms: straighten

2. idiomatictransitiveTo correct or rectify.

   I hope they can straighten out the problem with my bill soon.

   Synonyms: sort out

3. idiomatictransitiveTo eliminate confusion from or concerning.

   As soon as I straighten out which of the twins is which, I'll start calling them by their names.

   1 more example

   “What have they done to stir him up?” “It's this book Daddy wrote about preparatory schools. He wrote a book about preparatory schools. Did you know he had written a book about preparatory schools?” “Hadn't an inkling. Nobody tells me anything.” “Well, he wrote this book about preparatory schools. It was about preparatory schools.” “About preparatory schools, was it?” “Yes, about preparatory schools.” “Thank God we've got that straightened out at last. I had a feeling we should get somewhere if we dug long enough. And – ?”

   1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC

   Synonyms: figure out, sort out, work out

4. idiomaticintransitiveTo correct; to stop doing something wrong.

   It is not enough to stand aside and hope problems straighten out on their own.

   Synonyms: work out

5. transitiveTo tidy, neaten, or organize.

   Synonyms: sort out, tidy up

6. transitiveMafia slangTo be made a made man in a Mafia organization.
7. informaltransitiveTo make heterosexual.

   Most biological mistakes can be treated with modern plastic surgery and prostheses. I've never heard of a gay person "successfully" "straightened out". You can't erase instinct!

   1999 September 14, P. J. Remner, “It's Only Natural”, in soc.motss (Usenet)

   2 more examples

   Rather superficial is the "medical" essay by Richard Green, who has previously been known as the psychologist who tortured boys with the "sissy syndrome." He's just completed a degree in law at Yale (presumably he's preparing for all the malpractice suits from parents who paid him to "straighten out" their boys, boys who have found the clone look very fashionable in the '80s)

   1987 December 27, Charley Shively, “AIDS In The Mind Of The Left And The Mainstream”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 24, page 10

   This is "straightened out" version of Lilian Hellman's lesbian-oriented melodramatic/tragic play. In Hellman's play, a student falsely accuses two teachers of being a lesbian couple, which sends the local town into a rage. In this movie version, the kid accuses the women of a different "vice", because the producers didn't think the movie-going public was ready for a film about lesbianism.

   1993 October 16, sl...@cc.usu.edu, “GLB-TV list, 10/16/93”, in soc.motss (Usenet)