- comb
- 1
noun
1 (C) a flat piece of plastic, metal etc with a row of thin teeth on one side, used for making your hair tidy2 (C) a small flat piece of plastic, metal etc with a row of thin teeth on one side, used for keeping your hair back or for decoration3 (singular) a process in which you make your hair tidy or straight using a comb: Your hair needs a good comb.4 (C) the red piece of flesh that grows on top of a male chicken's head5 (C) a honeycomb-see also: fine-tooth comb 2 verb (T)1 to make hair or fur tidy or straight using a comb: Your hair's a mess! Go comb it.2 to search a place thoroughly: comb sth for: The police combed the woods for the missing boy.comb sb/sth out phrasal verb (T)1 to make hair or fur straight and smooth using a comb: It took over an hour to comb out all the tangles in Buster's fur.2 informal to get rid of unnecessary people from within a group3 (+ from) to find and collect specific pieces of information from a larger amount of information- comb out noun (singular) comb through phrasal verb (T) to search through a lot of objects or information in order to find a specific thing or piece of information: Marta combed through a box of old photographs, looking for the baby portrait.
Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.