ichidan verb, transitive verb
Used for physically straightening something bent, or metaphorically correcting a bad habit, distortion, or flaw. Often implies deliberate effort to fix something that is crooked or wrong.
針金を矯めてまっすぐにした。
I straightened the wire.
悪い癖を
It's hard to correct a bad habit.
ichidan verb, transitive verb
Rare and somewhat literary use for deliberately distorting facts or truth. More commonly expressed with 歪める (ゆがめる) or 曲げる (まげる) in modern Japanese.
彼は事実を矯めて報告した。
He reported the facts in a distorted way.