comb

¹

[kohm]

noun

1. a toothed strip of plastic, hard rubber, bone, wood, or metal, used for arranging the hair, untangling it, or holding it in place.

2. a currycomb.

3. any comblike instrument, object, or formation.

4. the fleshy, more or less serrated outgrowth on the head of certain gallinaceous birds, especially the domestic fowl.

5. something resembling or suggesting this, as the crest of a wave.

6. a honeycomb, or any similar group of cells.

7. a machine for separating choice cotton or wool fibers from noil.

8. a comblike instrument for imparting a grainlike finish to a painted surface.

9. Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S.,  a ridge of a roof.

10. a series of springlike prongs projecting from a spine, usually of plastic, for making a loose-leaf binding.

11. a trowel having a notched edge for applying adhesives in setting tiles or the like.

12. Armor.,  a ridge along the top of a helmet, especially of the morion.

13. Masonry.,  drag.

14. the upper edge of the buttstock of a rifle or shotgun.

verb (used with object)

1. to arrange or adorn (the hair) with a comb.

2. to use (something) in the manner of a comb.

   She was slowly combing her fingers through her hair.

3. to remove (anything undesirable) with or as if with a comb.

   She combed the snarls out of her hair. They combed the cowards from the group.

4. to search everywhere in.

   He combed the files for the missing letter.

5. to separate (textile fibers) with a comb.

6. to scrape with or as with a comb.

7. to sweep across; rake.

   High winds combed the seacoast.

verb (used without object)

1. to roll over or break at the crest, as a wave.

comb.

²

abbreviation

1. combination.

2. combined.

3. combining.

4. combustion.

comb

/ kəʊm /

noun

1. a toothed device of metal, plastic, wood, etc, used for disentangling or arranging hair

2. a tool or machine that separates, cleans, and straightens wool, cotton, etc

3. the fixed cutter on a sheep-shearing machine

4. anything resembling a toothed comb in form or function

5. the fleshy deeply serrated outgrowth on the top of the heads of certain birds, esp the domestic fowl

6. anything resembling the comb of a bird

7. a currycomb

8. a honeycomb

9. the row of fused cilia in a ctenophore

10. to examine very thoroughly

verb

1. (tr) to use a comb on

2. to search or inspect with great care

   the police combed the woods

Other Word Forms

• combless adjective
• comblessness noun
• uncombed adjective
• well-combed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of comb¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English comb, camb; cognate with Old High German kamb ( German Kamm ), Old Norse kambr, Greek gómphos “pin, peg,” gomphíos “molar tooth,” Slavic (Polish) ząb “tooth,” Tocharian A kam “tooth”; cam ¹, kempt

Word History and Origins

Origin of comb¹

Old English camb; related to Old Norse kambr, Old High German camb

Idioms and Phrases

see fine-tooth comb.

Example Sentences

The pair recalled fans combing through their old social media posts, reaching out to their loved ones and filming them out in the real world.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

So she did, combing “through the Auto Trader magazine,” she writes in her 2023 memoir.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Crew members in cargo pants prepare scenery on stage, the costume department steams dresses and hairstylists comb wigs in a basement room backstage.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

With his full head of neatly combed silver hair, he could easily pass for the father of many of his peers, in a job where the average age is 20 years younger.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Dickinson combed through “maybe 50 or 100” tapes to find the right actor to play Mike, a down-on-his-luck British man struggling with homelessness and drug addiction on the streets of London.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• examine 
• forage 
• inspect 
• investigate 
• rake 
• rummage 
• scour 
• scrutinize 
• search 
• sift