comb1

[kohm] /koʊm/
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 (def 30).
14.
the upper edge of the buttstock of a rifle or shotgun.
verb (used with object)
15.
to arrange or adorn (the hair) with a comb.
16.
to use (something) in the manner of a comb:
She was slowly combing her fingers through her hair.
17.
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.
18.
to search everywhere in:
He combed the files for the missing letter.
19.
to separate (textile fibers) with a comb.
20.
to scrape with or as with a comb.
21.
to sweep across; rake:
High winds combed the seacoast.
verb (used without object)
22.
to roll over or break at the crest, as a wave.
Origin
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; see cam
Related forms
combless, adjective
comblessness, noun
uncombed, adjective
well-combed, adjective

comb2

[koom, kohm] /kum, koʊm/
noun
1.
combe.

comb.

1.
combination.
2.
combined.
3.
combining.
4.
combustion.
Examples from the web for comb
  • So every night she used to comb his hair and pick out the white ones.
  • If hair takes on a tinge of green after swimming in a chlorine laden pool, simply comb tomato sauce through it.
  • Never mind-he can get some work done on his cell phone and comb his hair in the process.
  • His chlorine-damaged hair was tousled and badly in need of a comb.
  • Then he wet a comb at the cabin's iron hand pump and slicked back his hair and his little brother's hair.
  • The only sure way to get rid of lice and their eggs is pore over the hair, starting with a good nit comb.
  • Once the hair is wet and greasy, it's easy to comb out the lice.
  • We were taught to say please, say thank you and to comb our hair.
  • They then throw potato on them for two day, before comb each other's hair and return to hills.
  • The comb-over, his decades-long insistence on combing his hair across a substantial expanse of cranium, is history.
British Dictionary definitions for comb

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.
(Austral & NZ) 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.
go over with a fine-tooth comb, go over with a fine-toothed comb, go through with a fine-tooth comb, go through with a fine-toothed comb, to examine very thoroughly
verb
11.
(transitive) to use a comb on
12.
when tr, often foll by through. to search or inspect with great care: the police combed the woods
See also comb out
Word Origin
Old English camb; related to Old Norse kambr, Old High German camb

combe

/kuːm/
noun
1.
variant spellings of coomb

coomb

/kuːm/
noun
1.
(mainly Southern English) a short valley or deep hollow, esp in chalk areas
2.
(mainly Northern English) another name for cirque
Word Origin
Old English cumb (in place names), probably of Celtic origin; compare Old French combe small valley and Welsh cwm valley
Word Origin and History for comb
n.

Old English camb "comb, crest, honeycomb" (later Anglian comb), from West Germanic *kambaz (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German camb, German Kamm, Middle Dutch cam, Dutch kam, Old Norse kambr), literally "toothed object," from PIE *gombhos, from root *gembh- "to bite, tooth" (cf. Greek gomphos "a molar tooth," Sanskrit gambha-s "tooth").

v.

late 14c. (implied in past participle kombid), verb derived from comb (n.); replacing the former verb, Old English cemban, which however survives in unkempt. Related: Combed; combing.

Related Abbreviations for comb

COMB

Center of Marine Biotechnology

comb.

  1. combination
  2. combining
  3. combustion
Idioms and Phrases with comb

comb

see: fine-tooth comb