as in to trim
to make neat
neatened the living room in anticipation of company
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Recent Examples of neaten
If your shrub is mostly dead at the bottom, try shaping it into an attractive tree form by removing lower limbs and neatening the top.
—
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 25 Apr. 2026
Several people milled around, neatening the area, touching up Cage’s makeup.
—Susan Orlean, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2025
To neaten up the drawer, use clear or white plastic magazine or file holders nestled side by side to hold boxes and packages of frozen foods.
—Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2025
Fringes usually require neatening up every two to three weeks, and helpfully, many hairdressers offer free fringe trims in between salon visits.
—Jacqueline Kilikita, refinery29.com, 31 May 2024
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 25 Apr. 2026
Several people milled around, neatening the area, touching up Cage’s makeup.
—Susan Orlean, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2025
To neaten up the drawer, use clear or white plastic magazine or file holders nestled side by side to hold boxes and packages of frozen foods.
—Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2025
Fringes usually require neatening up every two to three weeks, and helpfully, many hairdressers offer free fringe trims in between salon visits.
—Jacqueline Kilikita, refinery29.com, 31 May 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for neaten
Verb
-
Regularly trim ground cover plants around trees.—
Lee Wallender,
The Spruce,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Revisions also have trimmed 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls, a sign that the labor market remains under strain.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Michael Quinn, a New York attorney who advises estates said that the commercial art world has become so professionalized that many postwar artists are unprepared to organize their studios, archives, and intellectual property before death.—
Angelica Villa,
ARTnews.com,
1 May 2026
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Every chat with Claude or GPT runs on the same underlying machinery that calculates spreadsheet totals and renders video games—silicon wafers etched with billions of microscopic switches, organized into specialized processors.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
1 May 2026
Verb
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Despite the setbacks, Rivera and Nuhfer continued to communicate with Sessions and arranged for the congressman to travel to Caracas to meet with Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at a military compound near the presidential palace on April 2, 2018.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Ride-share services are readily available, golf carts can be arranged in select areas and most stations are located in or just steps from vibrant downtown districts.—
Karon Warren,
AJC.com,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Neaten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/neaten. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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