go straight

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go straight (third-person singular simple present goes straight, present participle going straight, simple past went straight, past participle gone straight)

1. (idiomatic) To discontinue engaging in criminal acts; to become a law-abiding person.
   • 1921, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 3, in The Efficiency Expert:

     "Oh," said Jimmy, "if I ever want any one to break into a safe, come to you, huh?"
     "You get me," replied the other. . . .
     "I should think," said Jimmy, "that a man of your ability could earn a living by less precarious methods." "You would think so," replied the Lizard. "I've tried two or three times to go straight. Wore out my shoes looking for a job."

   • 1951 September 24, “Mexico: Toward the Perfect State”, in Time:

     [H]e got a law passed threatening them with jail if they did not go straight in the future.

   • 1989, John Grisham, A Time to Kill, reprint edition, →ISBN, page 12:

     He's proved very reliable since he was paroled. He's a good kid tryin' to go straight, for the most part.

   • 1995 July 2, John Tierney, “The Big City: Cheats Like Us”, in New York Times, retrieved 13 September 2012:

     "I can't take no more time in jail," he said. "I'm going straight."

• play it straight

• “go straight”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.