straighten out
Fix the mess
To straighten out is to resolve confusion or disorder, or to correct someone's behavior or understanding.
You might straighten out a misunderstanding, straighten out your finances, or straighten out a troubled teenager.
The phrase implies bringing something crooked or tangled back into proper alignment: Let me straighten out a few things before we proceed.
He finally straightened out after years of trouble.
Make something understood
- resolveFirmness of purpose
- sort outResolve or organize
- clear upResolve or brighten
- untangleUndo knots or confusion
disentangle · unravel · work out · figure out · make sense of · get to the bottom of · iron out · settle
- correctFree from error
- rehabilitateReturn to good condition
- shape upImprove behavior or performance
- turn aroundRotate one hundred eighty degrees
discipline · clean up one's act · mend one's ways · reform · redeem · reeducate · mentor · guidance
explain
Make something understood
untangle · disentangle · unravel · work out · figure out · make sense of · get to the bottom of · iron out · settle · hash out
set right
- correctFree from error
- rehabilitateReturn to good condition
- shape upImprove behavior or performance
turn around · discipline · clean up one's act · mend one's ways · reform · redeem · reeducate · mentor · guidance · intervention
- disciplinemisconduct, violation, time-out, timeout, grounded
- fixesfix, repair, mend, correction, correct
- set straightcorrect, rectify, put right, disabuse, undeceive
- improvementget better, improvement, do better, enhance, make progress
- snap out of itsnap out of it, get a grip, get it together, shake it off, wake up
straighten outmess up
Do badly, err
disorganize · jumble · make a mess of · disorder · tangle
straighten outcomplicate
Make more difficult
worsen · make worse · exacerbate · confuse · ignore
straight, straighten, straightened, straightening, straightens, straightest, straightener, straightness, straighteners