go straight
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go straight
1. Literally, to move forward in the direction one is facing. Just go straight on Main Street and then turn once you get to the river. A: "Whoa, why did you just turn left?" B: "Well, I couldn't go straight—the road is closed." Go straight for three blocks and you'll reach the ice cream shop.
2. slang To begin to respect the law after a period of crime. You need to go straight before you end up in jail for the rest of your life. Just when I think my son has finally gone straight, I get a call that he's been arrested. He'll never be able to go straight if he keeps hanging out with the same friends who are always in and out of jail themselves.
3. slang To stop taking drugs. He's going to throw his life away on drugs if he doesn't check in to rehab and go straight soon. If you don't go straight, these drugs could end up killing you. It took me a long time to go straight. It wasn't until one of my closest friends died of an overdose that I finally went to rehab.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2026 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
go straight
to stop breaking the law and lead a lawful life instead. The judge encouraged the thief to go straight. After Bob was arrested, he promised his mother he would go straight.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
go straight
Become a law-abiding person; abandon crime. For example, Once he got out on probation, he swore he would go straight. The use of straight in the sense of "honest" dates from the 1500s and probably alludes to the opposite of crooked, used in the sense of "dishonest" from the 13th century on.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
go straight
1. in. to stop breaking the law. I think I’ll give all this up and go straight—some day.
2. in. to get off drugs. (Drugs.) I’ll go straight one of these days.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
go straight, to
To become a law-abiding person after being a criminal; also, becoming heterosexual. The first meaning uses “straight” in the sense of “honest,” a usage dating from the 1500s and the opposite of “crooked,” or “dishonest,” which dates from the thirteenth century. For example, “That time in detention convinced her to go straight from now on.” The second meaning is much newer, dating from the 1900s. It uses “straight” in the sense of “heterosexual.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
