From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstraighten out phrasal verb1 straighten something ↔ outSOLVE/DEAL WITH A PROBLEM to deal with problems or a confused situation and make it better, especially by organizing things SYN sort out There are several financial problems that need to be straightened out quickly.2 to become straight, or to make something straight The path soon bends to the right, then straightens out.straighten something ↔ out She straightened out her legs.3 DEAL WITHto improve your bad behaviour or deal with personal problems, or to help someone do this He straightened out when he joined the army.straighten somebody ↔ out Her parents changed her school, hoping it would straighten her out. → straighten→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
straighten out• Gemma needed surgery to straighten her cooked knee out.• The road twisted and turned for a few miles and then straightened out again.• He had straightened out all the paperclips on his desk, but had done no work. 