with a fine-tooth comb
6
4.2
- idiom
:
con lupa
- The editor reviewed the manuscript with a fine-tooth comb to ensure there were no grammatical errors.
- go through with a fine-tooth comb
There was no Charlie because that crime scene went over with a fine tooth comb, no evidence of any other person there.
- There was no Charlie because that crime scene went over with a fine tooth comb, no evidence of any other person there.
Examples
-
The fellas went through the wreckage with a fine-tooth comb.
-
But now I got this guy going through every sentence with a fine-tooth comb.
-
So I went back and looked them over with a fine tooth comb.
-
You got to go in there with a fine tooth comb and a bunch of people got to check on that manufacturing process.
-
Well, we are gonna be going over that building with a fine-tooth comb.
-
I guess the IRS goes through charity financial records with a fine-tooth comb.
-
The ledgers were gone over with a fine-tooth comb.
Fiction book (1994) -
If the CIR comes down the pike, we need to go over the law with a fine-tooth comb.
Blog text (15) -
Thanks for the post. Everyone needs to have their book edited. Now line editing is another story. I found it prohibitively expensive, and so my husband and I went through the MS with a fine-tooth comb before publishing.
Blog text (28) -
I really looked; I've gone over the whole house with a fine-tooth comb, even the closets, and checked the windows and basement door; they're locked tight as a drum.
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
32
8.3
With great care and close attention to small details
20
6.0
With great care and attention to small details
To do something very carefully and check every small detail
Antonyms
How Thoroughly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The expression literally evokes using a comb with fine teeth as an instrument to search or tidy something, and the components ('with' as instrument, 'fine/tooth' indicating closely spaced teeth, and 'comb' as a tool/verb for searching) transparently yield the meaning 'examine very carefully'. This physical-to-figurative mapping is common cross-linguistically and follows normal compositional patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the idiomatic sense.
Etymology
The phrase with a fine-tooth comb comes from the picture of using a comb with very close teeth to find tiny things in hair, like lice or dust. So, to check something 'with a fine-tooth comb' means 'to examine it very carefully'.