comb
noun
a toothed strip of plastic, hard rubber, bone, wood, or metal, used for arranging the hair, untangling it, or holding it in place.
comb
1 American
[kohm]
/ koʊm /
noun
-
combs
plural
-
a toothed strip of plastic, hard rubber, bone, wood, or metal, used for arranging the hair, untangling it, or holding it in place.
-
a currycomb.
-
any comblike instrument, object, or formation.
-
the fleshy, more or less serrated outgrowth on the head of certain gallinaceous birds, especially the domestic fowl.
-
something resembling or suggesting this, as the crest of a wave.
-
a honeycomb, or any similar group of cells.
-
a machine for separating choice cotton or wool fibers from noil.
-
a comblike instrument for imparting a grainlike finish to a painted surface.
-
Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. a ridge of a roof.
-
a series of springlike prongs projecting from a spine, usually of plastic, for making a loose-leaf binding.
-
a trowel having a notched edge for applying adhesives in setting tiles or the like.
-
Armor. a ridge along the top of a helmet, especially of the morion.
-
Masonry. drag.
-
the upper edge of the buttstock of a rifle or shotgun.
verb (used with object)
-
combs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
combed,
past participle, past
-
combing
present participle
-
to arrange or adorn (the hair) with a comb.
-
to use (something) in the manner of a comb.
She was slowly combing her fingers through her hair.
-
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.
-
to search everywhere in.
He combed the files for the missing letter.
-
to separate (textile fibers) with a comb.
-
to scrape with or as with a comb.
-
to sweep across; rake.
High winds combed the seacoast.
verb (used without object)
-
combs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
combed,
past participle, past
-
combing
present participle
comb.
2
American
abbreviation
-
combination.
-
combined.
-
combining.
-
combustion.
comb
British
/ kəʊm /
noun
-
a toothed device of metal, plastic, wood, etc, used for disentangling or arranging hair
-
a tool or machine that separates, cleans, and straightens wool, cotton, etc
-
the fixed cutter on a sheep-shearing machine
-
anything resembling a toothed comb in form or function
-
the fleshy deeply serrated outgrowth on the top of the heads of certain birds, esp the domestic fowl
-
anything resembling the comb of a bird
-
a currycomb
-
a honeycomb
-
the row of fused cilia in a ctenophore
-
to examine very thoroughly
verb
-
(tr) to use a comb on
-
to search or inspect with great care
the police combed the woods
comb
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
combsimple
-
combssimple
-
have combedperfect
-
has combedperfect
-
am combingprogressive
-
are combingprogressive
-
is combingprogressive
-
have been combingperfect progressive
-
has been combingperfect progressive
Past
-
combedsimple
-
had combedperfect
-
was combingprogressive
-
were combingprogressive
-
had been combingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of comb
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”; see cam 1, kempt
Explanation
A comb is a tool for smoothing your hair. You might pull a comb through your curls before you run out the door in the morning to catch your bus. A comb is made of plastic or wood, with separate teeth that untangle strands of hair. When you use one, you comb: "I grabbed the comb so I could comb my cat before the photo shoot." Another way to comb is to rummage or search, the way you comb through your bag to find your car keys. The Old English root is camb, "crest" or "honeycomb," from a Germanic root that means "toothed object."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Locked away in their quarantine pod, the isolation proved the perfect opportunity to comb through hours of archival footage, stitching a story from B-roll and memories, both of which Eleanor had plenty of.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
But there’s affection in Jean’s moralizing, as he brings out his own comb to run it through Berenger’s unruly hair—where it gets stuck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
People used speedboats and more jet skis to comb the waters surrounding Koh Samui and towards the nearby island of Koh Phangan searching for the family, the Bangkok Post reports.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
In addition to state parks personnel, several agencies have collaborated to comb through the park for Brophy including the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team; the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
She pulled out her compass, a comb, a mirror—and a handkerchief.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
“It’s two bald blokes fighting over a comb. Whoever wins will have their arse handed to them by Bayern on Sunday night.”
From The Guardian ● Aug. 18, 2020
“We are going through these with a fine-tooth comb. There is a very specific checklist.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2019
“No. Look I can prove it. That quarter on the hood, next to my comb. It’s from 1982. I left it in my pocket by mistake.”
From Nature ● Oct. 22, 2019
My daughter-in-law says, “Don’t do the comb. I don’t want him doing that in school — he’s 11.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2016
“That’s the uncapper over there, where we take the wax off the comb. Then it goes through the wax melter over here.”
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Bishop combs his old memories of crime-fighting for clues on how to approach these new events.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Many vets do not treat their own pets monthly, the committee heard, instead regularly checking their pets' fur with flea combs and restricting use to when fleas were spotted.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
With the help of Rydberg atoms, the transformative uses of optical frequency combs can now be extended into the previously difficult terahertz region.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 13, 2025
Karol G, “Ivonny Bonita” Karol’s history-minded, history-making “Tropicoqueta” LP lovingly combs through the generations of Latin music that made her a global superstar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025
She cuddles with me and combs my hair with her fingers.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
I was in a suit, I combed my hair, and I lost my mustache.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
In the past, scammers would have manually combed through social-media profiles and other online data to piece together details about potential targets and obtain contact information.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Desperate families of missing foreigners were clinging to hope as they combed hospitals and morgues in search of clues, a week after catastrophic floods tore through Nepal's Himalayan border region.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Meanwhile, agents from the New York FBI office combed through a trove of documents received from the Met Police, following the search of Bayoumi's properties in Birmingham, the BBC has learned.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
His hair is combed to the side, not a hair out of place.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
Maybe the tickly moustache isn't helping his allergies - and combing it won't make much difference.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
When he arrived on the scene, Kenig threw himself into the task he knew: helping survivors, then combing the site to collect bodies, which were in harrowing conditions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
They described an onerous search process that entails combing through emails and phones of 13 city officials, including the mayor; as well as the records of more than a dozen rent board members and staffers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Cohen found MOTS-c by combing through the 97% of human DNA that doesn’t encode for genes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The servant sections my hair, combing it through.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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