straighten
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“A lot of us, our hope is that eventually, history will straighten this all out and say, no, Gloria came in a little later, and her very loyal supporters have backtracked that history.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
“You have New Orleans, which has a crime problem. We’ll straighten that out in two weeks, easier than D.C.,”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
It took a meeting with the inflation-slaying giant of a former Fed chair, Paul Volcker, to straighten him out.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2025
Her forfeit was to straighten her mop of curly hair for the team's evening meal.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2025
Zheng got up and staggered around like a crab before he managed to straighten up.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
![]()
The Mercator map is arguably the best for this purpose, because it straightens out spiraling rhumb lines, and that’s why it rose to dominance.
From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2026
He straightens it out and enhances its faded colour with careful strokes of a pencil.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025
He visibly straightens and says to Drummond, “Devour feculence,” establishing that this is how he naturally speaks.
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2025
These optical imperfections bend the images of straight lines into gnarled curves that the calibration effectively straightens out.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2024
The monster straightens up and looks at me.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
![]()
A very kind woman working behind the desk straightened me out: I was being too literal.
From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2025
In pictures, she can be seen smiling sweetly at the camera in a smart black suit with straightened brown hair during a visit to the Financial Times in 2010.
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2025
“The tears that I have shed over this, the frustration, the hours on the phone, trying to get it straightened out,” said Reisen, who lives in the Philadelphia area.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2025
When his Part D drug plan declined to cover one of his medications, the office staff called the insurance company and got it straightened out, saving him time and frustration.
From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2025
In the reflection of the metal door, Feathers and Rubio are already standing at attention, jumpsuits straightened and zipped to their necks.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
![]()
His grand goal was to reduce flooding, ease navigation and expand commercial shipping capacity by straightening the river’s course and shortening the distance between Basel and Bonn by 50 miles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
"Great effort went into straightening rivers to harness them for our use, but also into enabling agriculture by draining the wetlands."
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
West of Hoover Street, the grid reorients itself, straightening into an American-style street grid.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
We may all recoil in horror at “Mar-a-Lago face”—and you might be rolling your eyes at my foray into the world of butt-crack straightening.
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2026
“What you gonna do about it?” said Felix, straightening to his full height, which was a good six inches above Fadi.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
![]()
Vocabulary lists containing straighten
List 10
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Giving Tree"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Spelling Practice 3, Unit 4
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!