comb
- 01 A2 Elementary
n.a flat piece of plastic or metal with a row of thin teeth, used to make your hair tidy.
n.a toothed implement used for grooming, smoothing, or arranging hair.
Simple“He took a small comb out of his pocket to fix his hair before the photo.”
In context“The stylist used a fine-toothed comb to ensure the parting was perfectly straight before applying the hairspray.”
Synonymshairbrush - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the red, fleshy part on top of the head of a chicken or similar bird.
n.the fleshy, serrated crest on the head of domestic fowl, particularly prominent in roosters.
Simple“The rooster had a bright red comb that stood up tall on its head.”
In context“Veterinary inspection of the flock revealed that several birds had pale combs, a common clinical sign of underlying respiratory distress.”
Synonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the structure of wax cells made by bees to store their honey.
n.a structure of hexagonal wax cells produced by honeybees for the storage of larvae, honey, and pollen.
Simple“The beekeeper carefully removed a comb dripping with fresh honey from the hive.”
In context“The intricate geometry of the wax comb allows bees to store the maximum amount of honey using the minimum amount of structural material.”
Synonyms - 04 A2 Elementary
v.to pull a comb through your hair to make it neat.
v.to arrange or untangle hair using a toothed implement. Transitive, requiring a direct object.
Simple“She spent ten minutes trying to comb the knots out of her daughter's long hair.”
In context“He stood before the mirror, carefully combing his hair to conceal the thinning patches at his temples.”
- 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to search a place or a group of things very carefully to find something.
v.to search a place or a collection of data exhaustively and systematically.
Simple“The police had to comb the entire forest to find the missing keys.”
In context“Investigators had to comb through thousands of digital records to identify the source of the security breach.”
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)).
From combination.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.