Link Centre Dictionary

comb

UK/kuːm/ US/koʊm/ fairly common
noun (6) verb (3)

noun

1.

a flat device with narrow pointed teeth on one edge; disentangles or arranges hair

2.

the fleshy red crest on the head of the domestic fowl and other gallinaceous birds

Synonyms
3.
4.

any of several tools for straightening fibers

5.
6.

the act of drawing a comb through hair

  • “his hair needed a comb”
Synonyms

verb

1.

straighten with a comb

  • “comb your hair”
  • “comb the wool”
2.

search thoroughly

  • “They combed the area for the missing child”
Synonyms
3.

smoothen and neaten with or as with a comb

  • “comb your hair before dinner”
  • “comb the wool”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English comb, from Old English camb (“comb”), from Proto-West Germanic *kamb, from Proto-Germanic *kambaz (“comb”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth”), a doublet of cam. The verb is derived from the noun and displaced the older verb kemb. Cognates Compare Saterland Frisian Koum, Swedish/Dutch kam, Danish kam, Norwegian kam, German Kamm; also Tocharian B keme, Lithuanian žam̃bas (“sharp edge”), Old Church Slavonic зѫбъ (zǫbŭ), Albanian dhëmb, Ancient Greek γομφίος (gomphíos, “backtooth, molar”), Sanskrit जम्भ (jambha)).

Phrases

  • Afro comb
  • beard comb
  • cock's comb test
  • comb ceramic
  • comb down
  • comb filter
  • comb jelly
  • comb one's hair
  • comb out
  • comb over
  • comb someone's hair the wrong way
  • comb through

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.