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comb

comb

5 1.0
Pulling a comb through hair to make it neat
  • noun
  • /koʊm/
: peinado
  • Aunt Lucette got her comb out of her purse and began yanking it through her hair.

I'm actually just going to give my eyebrows a bit of a comb through, just comb them through.

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Examples

  • You might want to run a comb through your hair.

  • Then she quickly toweled off Kay's hair, ran a comb through it, and left.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I take a comb and comb my hair.

  • Then he took a comb out of his pocket and pulled it through his hair.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Back comb with some hair spray until you have a lot of volume there.

  • You didn't even get the comb all the way through.

  • Take the comb with the bleach... run it through my hair in sections.

  • Barbara took the comb from her bag and ran it slowly, tentatively through Joanne's limp auburn strands.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • You might want to run a comb through your hair to make it look neater.

  • She ran a comb through her hair every morning before school.

Synonyms

brushing
vscomb
2 1.0

To move a brush through hair to make it smooth

is more about untangling and arranging hair rather than smoothing
combing
vscomb
1 1.4

To pass a small tool with teeth through hair to make it neat and remove tangles

is the same action term but used as a base noun form
comb-out
vscomb
1 3.9

To remove tangles from hair using a comb

is broader and includes arranging and tidying hair as well as detangling

Idioms

Look through something very carefully to find small mistakes

Compounds

fine-tooth comb
  • Informal
8 4.3

A careful search that finds small mistakes or details

3 4.1

A very careful check of something to find small errors

1 3.9

To remove tangles from hair using a comb

1 2.1

A small tool with teeth used to tidy hair that fits in a pocket

comb jelly
  • Specialized
1 8.8

A small transparent sea animal like a jellyfish that moves by beating eight rows of tiny hairs

1 5.0

Thin, evenly spaced parts that stick out in a row like small teeth

A comb with very close teeth used to remove lice from hair

A small tool with very close teeth used to remove lice or untangle hair

comb-footed spider
  • Specialized
1 9.8

A spider with a row of short stiff hairs on each hind foot that often spins irregular webs

7.0

Removing unwanted people or things from a group

comb-plate
  • Specialized
9.9

A row of tiny hairs joined together that some sea animals use to move

A comb with sharp teeth that removes mats and tangles from an animal's coat

A hair comb with wide teeth from Wales used to untangle curly hair

How Thorough

hairdressing
5 2.5
styling
10 3.5
grooming
30 2.2
comb
5 1.0
brush
176 1.0

Surface Forms

comb singular
combs plural

Etymology

The word comb for the action comes from the same idea of a tool with 'teeth' that you draw through hair. So to give your hair a comb is to pass the comb's 'teeth' through it to make it neat.