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What is "comb"

Crossword clues for comb

comb
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
comb
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
brush/comb your hair
▪ He cleaned his teeth and brushed his hair.
fine-tooth comb
▪ The police went over the scene of the crime with a fine-tooth comb.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
fine
▪ Regular grooming with a special fine flea comb should alert you to the presence of these troublesome parasites.
▪ I searched the town for finer combs, washed all our clothes again and shampooed both of us morning and night.
■ VERB
take
▪ Then she took out a comb, and began to set it into some kind of order.
▪ She took a comb from her bag and combed her hair, looking at herself in the mirror.
▪ He took a comb from the pocket of his suit and stood at the sink.
▪ He crossed to his locker and took out a comb, running it through his short black hair.
use
▪ Never brush your hair when wet; instead use a wide-tooth comb.
▪ Don't over brush. Use a special wide-toothed comb to tease curls into place.
▪ Heat can help here too 5 Use a comb spreader to apply fresh adhesive to the floor.
▪ He has lost half his hair, and that which is left could use a comb.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
go through/over sth with a fine-tooth comb
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But Jim was stunned, because he had sold his gold watch to buy Della the combs.
▪ But the dances are normally performed on a comb in the hive where they hang vertically.
▪ Hair is in a stretched state when wet, a wide-tooth comb reduces breakage by gently passing through hair.
▪ She barely noticed it at all as she stood for a few seconds in front of the mirror and pulled the comb through her hair.
▪ She plotted a new method to kill Snow White: with a poisoned comb.
▪ The comb and tissue can be used to make a kazoo. 2.
▪ The mysterious tonic and the fine-tooth metal comb brought Walker incredible wealth.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
back
▪ She straightened up as Melissa approached, pulled off one of her gardening gloves and combed back her hair with her fingers.
▪ She sat her on the counter beside the sink and combed back her thin hair.
▪ Sharp colour and defined curls create dramatic impact For a classic fifties look short hair is combed back from the face.
▪ He was shaved and smelled of aftershave, his hair combed back.
▪ Looking in the mirror that was perched precariously on the windowsill, he combed back the hair that hung over his eyes.
▪ His hair was combed back smoothly over his round skull.
▪ Pictures of me at the time show me to have my hair combed back, without parting, from my forehead.
▪ The little guy's flattop is combed back too much, and the face is missing those character-telling wrinkles.
out
▪ She was combing out her blonde hair and pouring a colourless liquid from a bottle over her head.
▪ Afterwards she combed out long gray curls which turned into ringlets in the sun.
▪ His own hair was combed out over his shoulders, and for make-up he had used only the faintest trace of kohl.
▪ She had not combed out her hair.
▪ But if you sit here a moment, I will comb out your hair, and you may keep the comb.
▪ Typically, layoffs comb out the young, eager employees and leave behind the deadwood-in jobs they neither know nor want.
▪ I did comb out a single dead louse, and we inspected it on a sheet of white paper.
through
▪ After applying, comb through to ensure even distribution and leave for a minimum of three minutes.
▪ Stroke the Luminescent Mousse quickly through your hair and comb through, making sure that it is well distributed at the roots.
▪ Simply apply them evenly through towel-dried hair, comb through and set hair as usual.
▪ This is sprayed on to hair before perming and combed through to regulate hair's porosity and ensure an even finish.
▪ Lightly comb through to the ends.
▪ Simply spray on to damp hair that has been lightly towel-dried and comb through.
■ NOUN
hair
▪ The latter were neatly dressed, the girls in calico aprons, the boys in knickerbocker suits with their hair combed flat.
▪ Let him see the hand go through the hair, as if combing the wetness out.
▪ I wear my hair long and I comb it forward to hide as much as possible of my face.
▪ His thick brown hair was combed straight back.
▪ Stroke the Luminescent Mousse quickly through your hair and comb through, making sure that it is well distributed at the roots.
▪ I am neat, clean, and my hair is combed.
▪ Sharp colour and defined curls create dramatic impact For a classic fifties look short hair is combed back from the face.
▪ He was shaved and smelled of aftershave, his hair combed back.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ His blond hair was neatly combed.
▪ Police and volunteers are combing the countryside in the hope of finding the missing boy.
▪ Rescuers combed the hillsides but found no trace of the missing climbers.
▪ The children combed the shoreline for shells.
▪ Tugboats and helicopters combed the area before the body was finally found.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ After applying, comb through to ensure even distribution and leave for a minimum of three minutes.
▪ Hours later, police were still combing the blood-smeared lobby for evidence.
▪ It has no elasticity, is brittle and breaks easily when brushed or combed.
▪ Let him see the hand go through the hair, as if combing the wetness out.
▪ Never before have we been so potent, not even in New York when we were combing nurses out of our hair.
▪ Oh, yes, I comb their hair and, when I am finished, I sing to them.
▪ She had not combed out her hair.
▪ There was no way I could search the entire house, but I could certainly comb a couple of places.
Related phrases:
The Collaborative International Dictionary
comb

Coomb \Coomb\, n. [AS. cumb a liquid measure, perh. from LL. cumba boat, tomb of stone, fr. Gr. ? hollow of a vessel, cup, boat, but cf. G. kumpf bowl.] A dry measure of four bushels, or half a quarter. [Written also comb.]

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
comb

Old English camb "comb, crest, honeycomb" (later Anglian comb), from Proto-Germanic *kambaz (cognates: 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" (cognates: Greek gomphos "a molar tooth," Sanskrit gambha-s "tooth").

comb

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.

Wiktionary
comb

n. 1 A toothed implement for grooming the hair or (formerly) for keeping it in place. 2 A machine used in separating choice cotton fibers from worsted cloth fibers. 3 A fleshy growth on the top of the head of some birds and reptiles; crest. 4 A structure of hexagon cells made by bees for storing honey; honeycomb. 5 An old English measure of corn equal to the half quarter. 6 The top part of a gun’s stock. 7 The toothed plate at the top and bottom of an escalator that prevents objects getting trapped between the moving stairs and fixed landings. 8 (context music English) The main body of a harmonica containing the air chambers and to which the reed plates are attached. 9 A former, commonly cone-shaped, used in hat manufacturing for hardening soft fibre. 10 A toothed tool used for chasing screws on work in a lathe; a chaser. 11 The notched scale of a wire micrometer. 12 The collector of an electrical machine, usually resembling a comb. 13 One of a pair of peculiar organs on the base of the abdomen in scorpions. 14 The curling crest of a wave; a comber. 15 A toothed plate used for creating wells in agar gels for electrophoresis. 16 (context weaving English) A toothed wooden pick used to push the weft thread tightly against the previous pass of thread to create a tight weave. vb. 1 (context transitive especially of hair or fur English) To groom with a toothed implement; chiefly with a #Noun. 2 (context transitive English) To separate choice cotton fibers from worsted cloth fibers. 3 (context transitive English) To search thoroughly as if raking over an area with a comb. 4 (context nautical intransitive English) To roll over, as the top or crest of a wave; to break with a white foam, as waves.

Related phrases:
WordNet
comb

  1. n. 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 [syn: cockscomb, coxcomb]

  3. a fleshy and deeply serrated outgrowth atop the heads of certain birds especially domestic fowl

  4. any of several tools for straightening fibers

  5. ciliated comb-like swimming plate of a ctenophore

  6. the act of drawing a comb through hair; "his hair needed a comb" [syn: combing]

comb

  1. v. straighten with a comb; "comb your hair"; "comb the wool"

  2. search thoroughly; "They combed the area for the missing child" [syn: ransack]

  3. smoothen and neaten with or as with a comb; "comb your hair before dinner"; "comb the wool" [syn: comb out, disentangle]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Comb

upright=1.35|thumb|A modern plastic comb. A comb is a toothed device used for styling, cleaning and managing hair and scalp. Combs are among the oldest tools found by archaeologists, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating back to 5,000 years ago in Persia.

Comb (anatomy)

A comb is a fleshy growth or crest on the top of the head of gallinaceous birds, such as turkeys, pheasants, and domestic chickens. Its alternative name cockscomb (spelling variations abound) is because combs are generally larger on males than on females (a male gallinaceous bird is called a cock). There can be several fleshy protuberances on the heads and throats of gallinaceous birds, i.e. comb, wattle, ear lobes and nodules, which collectively are called caruncles, however, in turkeys caruncle refers specifically to the fleshy nodules on the head and throat.

Chicken combs are most commonly red (but may be black or dark purple in breeds such as Silkies or Sebrights), but in other species the color may vary from light grey to deep blue or red; turkey combs can vary in color from bright red to blue.

The comb may be a reliable indicator of health or vigor and is used for mate-assessment in some poultry species.

Comb (disambiguation)

A comb is a toothed device used for straightening and cleaning hair or fibers.

Comb or COMB may also refer to:

  • Comb (anatomy), a fleshy growth or crest on the top of the head of certain birds and reptiles
  • Combe (also spelled "comb"), a small valley without a river
  • Combing, a method used to straighten fibers for spinning
  • Honeycomb, a hexagonal wax structure built by bees
  • Dirac comb, a periodic distribution constructed from Dirac delta functions
  • Comb space, a topological space
  • Comb drive, linear motor often used in microtechnology
  • Comb Ceramic culture, an northeast European (today Baltic states, Finland, northern Russia) culture of the Middle Neolithic period
  • "COMB" ("combined guid/timestamp"), a sequential GUID generator algorithm, see Globally unique identifier#Sequential algorithms
Related phrases:

Usage examples of "comb".

Jerry Aland, much more presentable now that he was combed and dressed, kept his eyes fastened on Wolfe.

In a few minutes the hated stench of the aldehyde would have driven any bees still hanging about the comb down to the next level in the hive.

The bath attendant drifted hesitantly back as Alec finished dressing, offering him a tray of oils and combs.

She unpinned her hair, which was only slightly damp, and was combing out the golden locks when Amine came back into the room.

The ivory was stained and scaling, its edges jagged with the stumps of baleen combs.

Having no shackle, he had to leave the bird blinkered, and the scarlet comb throbbed angrily.

Then he hooked his hat on a wood peg and combed his hair in an oxidized mirror, lit an unfiltered cigarette, and sat down at a table by himself while a mulatto woman brought him a shot of whiskey and a beer on the side and a length of white boudin in a saucer.

Her hair was piled up on her head and held in place by silver combs and a length of silk, in a style worn by many Busk women, and she wore no jewelry apart from long silver earrings.

Also, she had combed or brushed her hair and she looked considerably better.

Fallon stopped, huffing and puffing, watching through the wide door as cops combed through the stuff in the cluttered workshop.

I shaved, combed my hair, put on a suit none of my new playmates had seen me wear, crossed the street, climbed the stairs of the apartment house and knocked on the door of apartment 3A.

Saint Just said, stepping past her to peer in the mirror, pushing at his already perfectly combed black hair.

I had brushed it, though, and it floated loose around my shoulders, smelling pleasantly of the hyssop and nettle-flower infusion I combed through it to keep lice at bay.

Thinning gray hair was combed low across his forehead in an unfashionable style.

Her jet-black hair was combed out until it hung loosely down below her shoulders.