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💇 To untangle hair 💇 Tidying hair 🔍 To search carefully 🧑‍🦱 A hair tool 🐔 A bird's crest 🌊 A moving plate
to comb

to comb

66 3.3
To search a place very carefully to find something
  • verb
  • /koʊm/
translation icon : peinar
  • Entire route is being combed for ambushes.
  • combed the entire area
  • combing the archives

I, they started kind of locking down my account and combing through my tweets.

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Examples

  • I want every inch of this area combed thoroughly.

    Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

  • And they are a book service where they have an entire team comb through tons of new releases to pick the best ones.

    cari can read

  • I want you to comb the streets for this kid.

    Richie Rich's Christmas Wish (1998)

  • So we comb the land for people who could give us insight into this.

  • Set up a perimeter and comb the area.

    Faces in the Crowd (2011)

  • We'll deploy our forces and comb the town.

    The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

  • And what we have to do, of course, is comb this region to find some traces of the inn.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • I'm sure the cops have combed the beach already but I thought I'd come down, take another look.

    Kidnapped (2021)

  • Major national radiological surveys began, with over 250 teams combing the entire USSR.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The search team will comb the area for any signs of the missing hiker.

Synonyms

to search
vsto comb
∞ 1.0

To try to find something or someone by looking carefully

is focused on examining a specific place or area very carefully
to hunt
vsto comb
190 1.2

To look carefully for something or someone

is about carefully checking a place or area rather than wide pursuit
to scout
vsto comb
77 3.3

To go ahead and explore a place to find something or information

is focused on checking one area carefully rather than exploring ahead for information
to sift
vsto comb
61 3.7

To look carefully through information to find what is important

is about checking a place or area carefully rather than sorting items for usefulness
to scour
vsto comb
57 5.1

To search a place carefully to find someone or something

is more about checking a limited area carefully rather than everywhere
to sift through
vsto comb
44 3.9

To look through many things carefully to find something specific

is focused on inspecting an area carefully rather than examining many items individually
to ransack
vsto comb
38 6.3

To search a place roughly and steal things while making a mess

is about careful searching of an area rather than rough destructive searching
to trawl
vsto comb
4 4.6

To search carefully through a large area or collection

is about checking a particular area carefully rather than sweeping large collections
to look high and low
vsto comb
  • Informal
1 3.9

To search everywhere for something that is lost

is focused on checking one area carefully rather than searching everywhere
to rout out
vsto comb
  • UK
5.5

To find something after a careful search

is focused on carefully looking through an area rather than emphasizing final discovery
to rout up
vsto comb
  • UK
8.4

Find something after searching carefully

is focused on inspecting a place carefully rather than only on getting results
to ferret around
vsto comb
  • Informal
7.4

To search carefully through things in a small place like a bag or box

is about carefully checking an area rather than rummaging disorderly in small spaces
to root about
vsto comb
  • UK
7.0

To search through a place or container in a messy way

is focused on careful examination of a place rather than messy rummaging

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

to overlook
243 2.9

To not notice someone or something you should see

Idioms

with a fine-tooth comb
6 4.2

Look through something very carefully to find small mistakes

Phrasal Verbs

to comb out
1 2.4

To remove tangles from hair or wool to make it smooth

to comb out
5.4

To remove unwanted parts from something after checking it carefully

Compounds

fine-tooth comb
  • Informal
7 4.3

A careful search that finds small mistakes or details

fine-toothed comb
  • Informal
2 4.1

A very careful check of something to find small errors

comb jelly
  • Specialized
8.8

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

comb-footed spider
  • Specialized
9.8

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

comb-like
5.0

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

comb-out
3.9

To remove tangles from hair using a comb

comb-out
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

dematting comb
6.8

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

fine-tooth comb
3.7

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

fine-toothed comb
3.7

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

pocket comb
2.1

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

Welsh comb
8.6

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

How Thorough

to ransack
38 6.3
to scour
57 5.1
to comb
66 3.3
to search
∞ 1.0
to scan
127 2.7

Surface Forms

comb infinitive
combed past
combed past participle
combing present participle
combs third person singular

Etymology

To 'comb' a place in the sense of 'search carefully' comes from running a comb through hair to find tangles; a helpful way to remember it is to picture using a comb to check every part of something. So when you comb an area you look through it very carefully, just like combing hair.