comb

A comb for the hair.

Meanings

Noun

Verb

  • To groom with a toothed implement; chiefly with a comb.
  • To separate choice cotton fibers from worsted cloth fibers.
  • To search thoroughly as if raking over an area with a comb.
  • To roll over, as the top or crest of a wave; to break with a white foam, as waves.
  • To turn a vessel into (the track of) (a torpedo) so as to reduce one's size as a target.

Related

Similar words

Origin

  • 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"), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰ- ("to pierce, gnaw through").
  • Compare Saterland Frisian Koum, Swedish/Dutch kam, Norwegian kam, German Kamm); also Tocharian B keme, Lithuanian žam̃bas ("sharp edge"), Old Church Slavonic зѫбъ, Albanian dhëmb, Ancient Greek γομφίος ("backtooth, molar"), Sanskrit जम्भ).
  • From combination.

Modern English dictionary

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