neaten

/ˈnitn/

To neaten is to tidy up or to clean. You can neaten your room by making your bed and throwing your dirty clothes in the laundry basket.

When you turn disorder into order, you neaten. You might neaten your car by throwing away the accumulated soda cans and brushing crumbs off the seats, or neaten your outfit by straightening your tie and tucking in your shirt. Neaten comes from neat, "tidy or clean," from the Middle French net, "clear or pure." The root is the Latin nitere, "to shine."

Definitions of neaten

1. verb

   put (things or places) in order
   synonyms: clean up, square away, straighten, straighten out, tidy, tidy up

   types:

   make, make up

   put in order or neaten

   clean, clean house, houseclean

   clean and tidy up the house

   G.I., GI

   clean in preparation for inspection

   spring-clean

   thoroughly clean the entire house, often done only once a year

   type of:

   order

   bring order to or into
2. verb

   care for one's external appearance
   synonyms: groom

   types:

   clean, cleanse

   clean one's body or parts thereof, as by washing

   shave

   remove body hair with a razor

   comb, comb out, disentangle

   smoothen and neaten with or as with a comb

   arrange, coif, coiffe, coiffure, do, dress, set

   arrange attractively

   gel, mousse

   apply a styling gel to

   pomade

   apply pomade to (hair)

   clean up

   make oneself clean, presentable or neat

   make up

   apply make-up or cosmetics to one's face to appear prettier

   manicure

   care for (one's hand) by cutting and shaping the nails, etc.

   barber

   perform the services of a barber: cut the hair and/or beard of

   pedicure

   care for one's feet by cutting and shaping the nails, etc.

   do up, doll up, glam up, pretty up

   use special care in dressing, making-up, etc.

   slick up, smarten up, spruce, spruce up

   dress and groom with particular care, as for a special occasion

   perfume, scent

   apply perfume to

   bathe

   cleanse the entire body

   wash

   to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking

   lave, wash

   cleanse (one's body) with soap and water

   lather, soap

   rub soap all over, usually with the purpose of cleaning

   razor

   shave with a razor

   tonsure

   shave the head of a newly inducted monk

   bath, bathe

   clean one's body by immersion into water

   douche

   direct a spray of water into a bodily cavity, for cleaning

   sleek down, slick, slick down

   give a smooth and glossy appearance

   bob

   cut hair in the style of a bob

   wave

   set waves in

   fluff, tease

   ruffle (one's hair) by combing the ends towards the scalp, for a full effect

   highlight

   apply a highlighter to one's cheeks or eyebrows in order to make them more prominent

   lipstick

   apply lipstick to

   rouge

   redden by applying rouge to

   floss

   use dental floss to clean

   powder

   apply powder to

   decontaminate

   rid of contamination

   type of:

   beautify, embellish, fancify, prettify

   make more beautiful