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单词 comb
释义

combn.

Brit. /kəʊm/, U.S. /koʊm/
Forms: Old English camb, comb, Middle English–1600s combe, Middle English coomb, komb(e, Middle English–1600s come, 1500s coame, comme, 1500s–1600s (in compounds) com, 1600s coumb, Middle English– comb. Also β. (northern and chiefly Scottish) Middle English camb, Middle English cayme, Middle English cambe, Middle English–1500s kambe, Middle English–1800s came, 1500s keme, 1500s–1800s kame, 1600s kemb, 1800s kembe, kaim.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: A common Germanic noun: Old English cǫmb, camb = Old Saxon camb, (Middle Dutch cam(m), Dutch kam), Old High German chamb, (Middle High German kam(m), kamp(b), German kamm, Old Norse kambr (Swedish, Danish kam) < Old Germanic *kambo-z, pre-Germanic form *gombho-s: compare Greek γόμϕος ‘pin’, perhaps originally ‘tooth’, Sanskrit gambha-s tooth, Old Slavonic ząbŭ( < gambo-) tooth.
1.
a. A strip of wood, bone, horn, metal, etc., with indentations forming a series of teeth, or with teeth inserted, along one or both edges; used for disentangling, cleaning, and arranging the hair, and for like purposes; also, in ornamental forms, worn by women to keep the hair in place.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] > honeycomb
comba700
honeycombOE
werke1598
virgin comb1639
sugar-bag1764
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > implements used in styling the hair > [noun] > comb
comba700
pocket-tortoise1687
whisk-comb1688
dressing comb1782
tail comb1782
rake-comb1790
reding comb1795
fine-tooth comb1852
hackle1903
rat-tail comb1937
rake1966
Afro pick1971
pick1972
detangler1984
a700 Epinal Gloss. 825 Pecten, camb.
c1330 Florice & Bl. (1857) 552 The thridde [maiden] scholde bringge comb and mirour To seruen him with gret honour.
c1384 G. Chaucer Hous of Fame i. 136 Her combe to kembe her hed.
1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 15 My tablees of ivory with the combe and a peyre spectaclys.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 63 Bedys combys gyrdyllys & knyfys.
1660 Bp. J. Taylor Ductor Dubitantium II. iii. ii. Rule 5 Q. 4 Clemens Alexandrinus is as severe against old men that with black lead combes put a lie upon their heads.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 113. ⁋8 Her mistress had turned her out at night for breaking six teeth in a tortoise-shell comb.
1803 J. Porter Thaddeus of Warsaw xxx Marshall having fixed the last pearl-comb in her mistress's beautiful hair.
1851 D. Wilson Archæol. & Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. ii. vi. 300 A bronze fibula of extremely rude form..and a bronze comb.
β. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6340 Wiþþ utenn cnif. & shæþe. & camb.?a1400 Morte Arth. 3351 Craftely with a cambe cho kembede myne heuede.1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 2 Anoynte therewyth a kambe and kembe thy head.1579 in T. Thomson Inventory (1815) 282 (Jam.) Ane kais of kamys of grene velvot.?16.. Alison Gross in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Ballads (1857) I. 288 My sister Maisry came to me, Wi' silver bason, and silver kemb.1803 in W. Scott Minstrelsy Sc. Border (ed. 2) I. 246 She has stown the king's redding kaim.1826 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxvii, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 95 Growin lassies sittin'..wi' cames sae trig in their silken hair.1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 94 Keeam or Kaim, a comb.figurative.1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton iv. 45 Faint streaks of sunshine descend like a shimmering comb upon the gloomy landscape.1875 W. Black Three Feathers xv A break appeared in the clouds, and a vast comb of gold shot shining down.
b. An instrument for currying horses, consisting of a series of such strips of metal, with short teeth, placed parallel in a frame. Usually horse comb, curry-comb n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > grooming of horses > grooming instruments
horse-comba1100
wisp1362
combc1440
mane-comb1564
curry-comb1573
scraper1581
rubber1598
teaseler1607
French brush1655
sweating-iron1753
dandy-brush1845
groomera1884
sweat-scraper1908
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 88 Combe of curraynge, or horse combe, strigilis.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. vii. f. 128 Almohaza, that is, a horse combe.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 221 Currycomb and brush, mane-comb.
c. humorously. †Alman comb: see quot. crab-tree comb: a cudgel (as applied to the head). Obsolete. (Cf. comb v.1 3.)
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun]
sowelc893
treec893
cudgelc897
stinga900
bat?c1225
sticka1275
clubc1275
truncheon14..
bourdonc1325
bastona1400
warderera1400
plantc1400
kibble1411
playloomc1440
hurlbatc1450
ploykc1450
rung1491
libberlac1500
waster1533
batonc1550
macana1555
libbet1562
bastinado1574
crab-tree comb1593
tomahawkc1612
billeta1616
wiper1622
batoon1637
gibbeta1640
crab-bat1647
kibbo1688
Indian club1694
batterdasher1696
crab-stick1703
bloodwipea1705
bludgeon1730
kierie1731
oaken towel1739
crab1740
shillelagh1772
knobstick1783
pogamogganc1788
whirlbat1791
nulla-nulla1798
waddy1800
kevel1807
supple1815
mere1820
hurlet1825
knobkerrie1826
blackthorn1829
bastera1833
twig1842
leangle1845
alpeen1847
banger1849
billy1856
thwack-stave1857
clump1868
cosh1869
nulla1878
sap1899
waddy1899
blunt instrument1923
1593 Bacchus Bountie in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 269 Which haue had their heads smoothed well with a crabtree combe.
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. xxi. 90 He combed his head with an Alman combe, which is the foure fingers and the thumb.
d. figurative. The action or process of ‘combing out’ (see comb v.1 6b).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > enlistment or recruitment > [noun] > compulsory
pressing1591
press?1592
impress1603
imprest1610
impressing1641
draft1757
conscription1799
press-ganging1863
blood tax1890
call-up1916
comb1916
1916 Evening News 8 Nov. 1/4 The comb which is being applied at the moment to the police appears once again to have begun at the wrong end.
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 61 The comb, the popular newspaper term used in the War for the process of obtaining men for the Army by compulsorily thinning out from the professional classes and trades and Government Offices all physically fit. At the Front the non-combatant branches were also dealt with.
2. transferred. Applied, chiefly in technical use, to various things resembling a comb in function, structure, or appearance.
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a. An instrument with two or three rows of iron teeth of different lengths, used in dressing wool for separating and arranging the fibres; a card; a similar instrument used in dressing flax. Also a toothed instrument in a carding-machine for drawing the fleece or cotton off the cards; a comber. Also a name sometimes given to the reed used in weaving.
b. A toothed instrument used to puncture. Obsolete.
c. A steel tool with projecting teeth, used for cutting the thread of a screw on work in the lathe.
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d. A toothed instrument used by house-painters in graining; also a tool with wire teeth used in making marbled papers.
e. ‘The notched scale of a wire-micrometer’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.).
f. ‘The window stool of a casement. Glou.’ (Grose Prov. Gloss. 1787).
g. A comb-like row of brass points connected with the prime conductor of an electrical machine for collecting the electricity from the plate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > place of power generation > [noun] > collector
comb1871
c1290 Lives Saints (Laud 1887) 99 Also man draweth with combes wolle, hire tetes heo to-drowe.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) xvii. xviii. (Tollem. MS.) Yf þe rynde of þe stocke is smote with yren combes [L. ferreis ungulis], þan droppeþ oute þerof noble opobalsamum.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 39 Some vse..to carde of the knoppes [of flax] with an iron Combe.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 273 Without all Weauers combes.
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved xxviii. 189 And for the Coumb, or Whing of the Share, which is that which goeth upward upon the Shield-board, I shall tearm the Coumb.
1724 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (1733) I. 37 Lassie, lend me your braw hemp heckle, And I'll lend you my thripling kame.
1757 J. Dyer Fleece iii. 85 Behold the fleece beneath the spiky comb Drop its long locks, or, from the mingling card, Spread in soft flakes.
1837 N. Whittock et al. Compl. Bk. Trades (1842) 483 [article Wool comber] He then proceeds to place the wool on one of his combs, the steel brooches of which are triple, and are constantly heated in a charcoal pot.
1867 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) ii. iii. 697 Giving the painted work a coat in oil of a brownish tone..this is then scratched over by combs of bone, with blunt points.
1871 H. Watts Dict. Chem. (1879) VI. 551 This force, acting successively upon each portion of the rotating plate as it passes between the paper and the points of the collecting comb, will..cause positive electricity to escape from the plate into the points..In consequence of this action, the comb of the second conductor..becomes positively electrified.
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Comb..used in combing long-stapled wool for worsted goods. The combs are used in pairs. Short-stapled wool is carded.
h. The lower, fixed cutting-piece of a sheep-shearing machine. Australian and New Zealand.
ΚΠ
1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xxix. 379 The cutter..moves from side to side 4,000 times per minute over the comb, which rests upon the skin of the sheep, and threads its way among the wool close to the surface of the body.
1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Oct. 310/1 Dust can lower the value of a [wool-]clip..besides being hard on combs and cutters.
1956 G. Bowen Wool Away! (ed. 2) vi. 73 It takes a sharp comb and a sharp cutter to cut wool off.
3.
a. Applied to natural formations resembling a comb, e.g. a comb-like set of points in a tooth; the comb-like nail or claw of the middle toe of certain birds, as the goatsucker and heron, etc.
ΚΠ
1873 St. G. Mivart Lessons Elem. Anat. vii. 275 In notched incisors, and especially in the comb-like ones of the Flying Lemur..a branch of the pulp-cavity ascends each process of the ‘comb’.
b. spec.
(a) The part of the hand between the wrist and the fingers; the metacarpus. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > extremities > hand > [noun] > metacarpus
comb1398
metacarpus?a1425
metacarpion1598
metacarp1683
metapodium1844
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) v. xxviii. 138 Pecten, the combe..is composyd of foure bones.
(b) Zoology (plural) The pair of abdominal appendages in Scorpions; analogous structures in other lower animals.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > bodies or parts > [noun] > limb or appendage > abdominal appendages
comb1831
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Scorpiones > member of (scorpion) > parts of > comb-like appendage(s)
pecten1816
comb1831
1831 H. McMurtrie tr. G. Cuvier Animal Kingdom II. 384 A branchial comb, composed of numerous, loose and tabular-like lamellæ.
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. v. ii. 270 Beneath the body [in Scorpions]..are two peculiar appendages called the ‘combs’. These organs consist of a stem..and a series of teeth.
1888 G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson Forms Animal Life (ed. 2) 751 ‘Tactile combs’ situated in pairs at the bases of the tentacles [in certain Hydrozoa].
(c) Sometimes used as an equivalent of pecten, in the sense of the marsupium or processus falciformis, a pigmented vascular process which projects into the jelly-like vitreous humour in the eyes of Birds, many Reptiles, and Fishes.
(d) Mineralogy. A comb-like structure found in mineral veins which are made up of plates or layers parallel to their walls: see quots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > features of stratum or vein > [noun] > material within
kevel1747
comb1863
coal ball1870
1863 J. D. Dana Man. Geol. 114 A comb is one of the layers in a banded vein—so called especially when its surface is more or less set with crystals.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 121 Comb, The place, in a fissure which has been filled by successive depositions of mineral on the walls, where the two sets of layers thus deposited approach most nearly or meet, closing the fissure and exhibiting either a drusy central cavity, or an interlocking of crystals.
1885 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. 585 Banded, comby [structure of mineral veins], in parallel (and sometimes exactly duplicated) layers or combs.
(e) A cluster of banana or plantain fruits.
ΚΠ
1852–93 Judson's Burmese-Eng. Dict. 358 A stalk or bunch of plantain fruit containing several combs.
4.
a. esp. The red fleshy crest or caruncle on the head of the domestic fowl, attaining special development in the male bird; so called from its indented or serrated form. (Cf. cockcomb n.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > head > appendage on
comba1000
casque1790
rose comb1815
flesh-bunch1841
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > member of (fowl) > parts of > comb
comba1000
coxcomb?a1425
cockcomb?c1475
rose comb1815
pea comb1854
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > hen or cock > [noun] > cock > parts of > comb
comba1000
coxcomb?a1425
cockcomb?c1475
strawberry comb1746
a1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 215/34 Cristas, i. comas, combas on fugele.
c1386 G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale 39 His combe was redder þan þe fyne coral.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Cock & Fox l. 454 in Poems (1981) 21 Ȝour beik, ȝour breist, ȝour hekill, and ȝour kame.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 157v Let..your Henne be of a good colour..with a straight redde and duble comme.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 161v Yf they be right Capons, theyr coames becommeth pale.
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Reflect. Agric. vi. 50 in Compl. Gard'ner The Heads of some sorts of Birds are Adorned with Tufts and Combs.
a1835 J. M. Wilson Hist. Tales Borders (1857) I. 68 The kaim of chanticleer.
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species v. 147 A large tuft of feathers on the head is generally accompanied by a diminished comb.
b. The similar fleshy outgrowth round or (generally) over each eye in some gallinaceous birds.
c. transferred. A crest like that of a cock (attributed to some serpents).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > [noun] > parts of
combc1400
gular1885
subcaudal1964
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xxxii. 143 Þare er also nedderes with cambez on þaire heeds, as it ware a cokk.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 460 The mane of the male Lyon, and the combe of the male Serpent.
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. Cv Amongst Serpents..some have combs.
d. Applied to a crest or ridge of hair.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > [noun] > tuft or ridge of
nosegayc1500
tusk1530
feathera1533
tussock1550
tush1570
flacket1589
tuz1693
coxcomb1843
comb1869
1869 R. D. Blackmore Lorna Doone I. iii. 29 His beard..of a bright red colour..that comb of hair had been a subject of some wonder to me.
1884 A. Gregory in Fortn. Rev. Mar. 379 The Shillooks..arrange the hair in a comb or crest, high upon the head.
5. From sense 4 come the phrases: †to set up one's comb: to be proud or vainglorious, to hold one's head high. to cut (rarely to cast down) the comb of: to lower the pride of, take the conceit out of, tame, ‘take down’, abash, humiliate.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > humiliation > humiliate [verb (transitive)]
anitherOE
fellOE
lowc1175
to lay lowc1225
to set adownc1275
snuba1340
meekc1350
depose1377
aneantizea1382
to bring lowa1387
declinea1400
meekenc1400
to pull downc1425
avalec1430
to-gradea1440
to put downc1440
humble1484
alow1494
deject?1521
depress1526
plucka1529
to cut (rarely to cast down) the comb of?1533
to bring down1535
to bring basec1540
adbass1548
diminish1560
afflict1561
to take down1562
to throw down1567
debase1569
embase1571
diminute1575
to put (also thrust) a person's nose out of jointc1576
exinanite1577
to take (a person) a peg lower1589
to take (a person) down a peg (or two)1589
disbasea1592
to take (a person) down a buttonhole (or two)1592
comb-cut1593
unpuff1598
atterr1605
dismount1608
annihilate1610
crest-fall1611
demit1611
pulla1616
avilea1617
to put a scorn on, upon1633
mortify1639
dimit1658
to put a person's pipe out1720
to let down1747
to set down1753
humiliate1757
to draw (a person's) eyeteeth1789
start1821
squabash1822
to wipe a person's eye1823
to crop the feathers of1827
embarrass1839
to knock (also take, etc.) (a person) off his or her perch1864
to sit upon ——1864
squelch1864
to cut out of all feather1865
to sit on ——1868
to turn down1870
to score off1882
to do (a person) in the eye1891
puncture1908
to put (a person) in (also into) his, her place1908
to cut down to size1927
flatten1932
to slap (a person) down1938
punk1963
?1533 W. Tyndale Expos. Mathew vi. f. lxiv If it moue the to set vp thy combe when thou geuest thy brother a ferthynge or an halfepennye.
1545 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Luke in Paraphr. New Test. (1548) Pref. After that repentaunce hath cast downe our combe.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry IV f. xijv My combe was clerely cut.
1644 C. Jessop Angel Church of Ephesus 58 The one cuts the combe of Episcopall Dominion.
1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel I. ii. 55 All the Counts in Cumberland shall not cut my comb.
1890 F. Hall in Nation (N.Y.) 50 352/3 His reckoning it a proud thing to cut the comb of an American at all hazards.
6. Applied to various things resembling a cock's comb in position or appearance (= crest):
a. The crest of a helmet; the upright blade which sometimes took its place on the morion.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > helmet > [noun] > crest
crestc1325
timbre1478
helmet-crest1509
timbrel1513
cone1737
comb1834
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 143/27 Crista, helmes camb.
c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 373/13 Crista, cambihte, camb on hætte oððe on helme.
1834 J. R. Planché Hist. Brit. Costume 30 The serrated outline occasionally forming the comb or crest of these Phrygian-looking head-pieces.
1855 F. B. Palliser tr. J. Labarte Handbk. Arts Middle Ages & Renaissance p. xxxii Tilting bourguinot..the comb twisted.
1884 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester (1886) Comb..The raised part of a ‘helmet’ hat, such as are worn by the police; also Crest.]
b. The projection on the top of the cock of a gun-lock. Also, the upper corner of the stock of a gun, against which the cheek is placed in firing.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > lock > other parts of lock
scutcheon1631
bridle1771
bridle pin1799
feather-spring1807
comb1867
detant1884
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > stock or shaft > parts of
shaft1626
side plate1680
pistol hand1702
club1720
heel plate1753
break-off1804
shoulder-butt1810
pistol-butt1814
rifle butt1826
pistol grip1841
nose cap1844
trap1844
trap-plate1844
receiver1851
bump1852
furniture1852
bend1859
comb1867
fore-end1881
furniture-pin1881
grip1881
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Comb..that projecting piece on the top of the cock of a gun-lock, which affords the thumb a convenient hold for drawing it back.
1881 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. 433 Measure the distance from A to heel, and from B to comb.
c. The crest or ridge of a bank of earth, a rising ground, etc.; the ridge between cart-ruts, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > ridge > [noun] > crest of
comba1325
edgec1400
rigging1541
ridge crest1848
ridgetop1849
chine1855
arête1862
back1863
crest-line1890
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2564 If ðat folc hem wulde deren, Ðe dikes comb hem sulde weren.
1807 A. Young Gen. View Agric. Essex I. v. 163 He has levelled the ruts and combs of ten miles in one day.
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Kaim, kame. This term in Ayrs. is used to denote the crest of a hill, or those pinnacles which resemble a cock's comb.
1838 W. Holloway Gen. Dict. Provincialisms Cooms, the high ridges in ill kept roads between the ruts and the horse path. Norf. Suff.
1869 R. D. Blackmore Lorna Doone I. iii. 33 We breasted our nags to the rise, and were coming to the comb of it.
1876 R. D. Blackmore Cripps v The ruts of the lane grew more distinct as their combs of frozen mud attracted and held the driving whiteness.
1880 M. A. Courtney W. Cornwall Words in M. A. Courtney & T. Q. Couch Gloss. Words Cornwall Comb, an upturned ridge left in ploughing.
d. A long and narrow hill or ridge, having steep sides. Scottish and English regional (northern), usually in form kame, kaim; frequent in proper names.
ΚΠ
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Kaim, kame, a low ridge. Lanarksh.
1862 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 4 341 To examine the remarkable ridges of sand and gravel, called ‘Kaims’, at Bedshiel, at Oxenden, and in the Dune woods..These Kaims consist of elongated ridges of drift..with steep sides, and attaining sometimes a height of 50 or 60 feet.
e. The crest or ridge of a roof. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > tile > [noun] > for roofing > for ridge
roof tileeOE
rig-tile1327
ridge tile1382
crest1430
crest-tile1477
rigging stone1573
crease1703
ridgetop1761
ridge tiling1795
crown tile1823
comb1824
1824 in Z. F. Smith Hist. Kentucky (1886) 394 The roof was formed by making the end logs shorter, until a single log formed the comb of the roof.
1845 J. J. Hooper Taking Census i. 161 They'd come and set on the comb of the house.
1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad xviii. 174 From the eaves to the comb of the roof.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Comb,..2. The ridge of a roof.
f. The crest of a wave. (Cf. comb v.1 5.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > [noun] > crest
ridgeOE
white nose1771
feather1838
crest1864
sea-cap1867
comb1886
soup1962
peak1963
1886 J. W. Graham Neæra II. xi The darkling waters shook with a brisker frolic of dancing frothy combs.
7. Nautical. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ii. 10 Vnder the midest of it [sc. the beakhead] is the Combe, which is a little peece of wood with two holes in it to bring the fore tacks aboord.
1708 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum (ed. 2) I Comb..is a small piece of Timber set under the lower part of the Beak-head near the middle.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Comb.
8. The flat cake or plate consisting of a double series of hexagonal cells of wax made by bees; a honeycomb.[This use seems to be confined to English. It does not appear to originate in any likeness of a single plate or cake with its cells to a comb for the hair, but either in the fact that the arrangement of the whole of the plates hanging parallel to each other from the roof of the hive suggests a comb with its teeth, or because each plate or ‘comb’ forms a ridge, and the whole a series of parallel ridges, like roofs of houses or ridges of hills rising beyond each other.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > sweetness > [noun] > honey > honeycomb
honeycombOE
comba1300
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17288 + 456 Þai broȝt som of arosted fische, a hony combe als-soo.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Prov. xvi. 24 Wordis wel set togidere is a coomb of hony.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxviiv Take a hyue and splent it within, with thre or foure splentes, that the bees may knyt their combes vnto.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 79 Tis seldome when the bee doth leaue her comb, In the dead carion. View more context for this quotation
1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 913 True Nectar..was wont to be made about Olympus..of Wine, Bees-combs, and sweet flowers.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 74 Every comb, newly made, is white: but it becomes yellow as it grows old.
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species viii. 229 I put the comb back into the hive.
β. a1300 E.E. Psalter xviii. 11 Swetter..Over honi and the kambe.1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 368 Ane vax-cayme [1489 Adv. wax cayme] that beis mais.a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) i. vii. 29 In camys incluss thar hwny cleyn.1788 E. Picken Poems & Epist. 126 A skepp..Weel cramm'd..Wi' cames.1839 A. Smart in Whistle-Binkie 2nd Ser. 43 Your tongue was like a honey kaim.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.
a.
comb-bearer n.
ΚΠ
1887 C. F. Holder Living Lights 14 The little jelly-like creatures called ‘comb-bearers’ or Ctenophores.
comb-box n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > implements used in styling the hair > [noun] > containers for > for a comb
comb-casea1586
comb-box1677
1677 London Gaz. No. 1190/4 A Combox, two Powder Boxes, and four other Boxes.
1840 Defoe's Col. Jack in Misc. Wks. V. 349 It was..in a comb-box.
comb-teeth n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > implements used in styling the hair > [noun] > comb > teeth of
comb-teeth1601
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xiii. iv. 385 They [leaves] grow..one close vnto another in manner of comb-teeth.
1783 Ainsworth's Thes. Linguæ Latinæ (new ed.) ii Vallus pectinis, the row of the comb teeth.
comb-tray n.
ΚΠ
1760 A. Whitfeld in Philos. Trans. 1759 (Royal Soc.) 51 283 My daughter, with her comb-tray under her arm.
b.
comb-like adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > condition or action of indentation of edge > [adjective] > finely or serrated
tootheda1387
serratile?1541
dented1552
denticle1574
sawed1607
comb-like1615
denticulate1661
denticulated1665
serrate1668
serrated1703
dentated1753
dentulated1796
dentelated1797
dentate1810
serratiform1821
serriform1822
teethed1825
saw-edged1846
serried1848
saw-toothed1857
denticular1878
saw tooth1884
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 89 The Comb-like sutures of the Skul.
1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. III. 218 The antennæ of the Stag Beetles have a clavate extremity divided into short comb-like leaves.
1844 W. B. Carpenter Animal Physiol. vi. 247 The gills form comb-like fringes.
comb-shaped adj.
comb-wrought adj.
C2.
comb-back n. a Windsor chair with a straight-top bar into which the back spindles fit; the back of such a chair.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > chair with back > of specific type
wainscot chair1663
Windsor chair1724
slat-back1891
comb-back1901
Windsor1901
wheel-back1902
hoop-back1905
ladder-back1908
spoon-back1909
Mendlesham chair1935
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > parts of chairs > back > type of
splat1833
yoke back1835
fiddle-back1890
shield1897
comb-back1901
spoon-back1909
1901 E. Singleton Furnit. of Forefathers II. v. 398 Another chair, a Windsor, of the kind called ‘comb back’..was made in all probability by a local workman.
1935 Apollo Aug. 69/1 Windsor chairs..can be divided into two main categories. The chair with the comb-back..and the chair with the hoop-back.
1967 L. J. Braun Cat who ate Danish Mod. vii. 63 I can offer you a Chippendale corner chair, a comb-back Windsor, [etc.].
comb-backed adj.
ΚΠ
1929 E. Wilson I thought of Daisy iv. 233 The principal prize was a comb-backed rocking-chair.
comb-bar n. (see quot.)
ΚΠ
1904 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 120/2 Comb-bar (Lace Manufac.), a very accurately shaped and finished bar of iron..upon which the ‘comb leads’ are screwed side by side.
Categories »
comb-broach n. one of the teeth of a wool-comb (Simmonds 1858).
comb-card n. a carding comb for wool.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > treating or processing wool > [noun] > combing > comb
wool-comba1100
wool card1564
woolling comb1599
comb-card1835
wool-comber1843
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 144 To clean and straighten the fibres of the wool, and to prepare it for the next machine, the comb-card.
comb-case n. a case to keep a comb in; in quot. a1678 applied to a hive containing only empty combs.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > implements used in styling the hair > [noun] > containers for > for a comb
comb-casea1586
comb-box1677
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. xiii. sig. I3 By the combe-case of Diana (sware Dametas) this woman is mad.
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 11 A Barbers Com-case.
a1678 A. Marvell Loyal Scot The hive a combcase, ev'ry bee a drone.
1843 Amer. Pioneer 2 444 A small eight by ten looking-glass sloped from the wall over a large towel and combcase.
comb-chafer n. a lamellicorn beetle (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > member of (dung-beetle)
sharnbudc1000
dora1450
clock1568
sharn-bug1608
dung beetle1634
grey fly1638
dunghill beetle1658
comb-chafer1712
tumble-turd1754
tumble-dung1775
dung-chafer1805
tumble-bug1805
tumbler1807
bull-comber1813
straddle-bug1839
lamellicorn1842
scarabaeidan1842
shard-beetle1854
watchman1864
scarabaeoid1887
scarabaeid1891
minotaur1918
1712 Philos. Trans. 1710–12 (Royal Soc.) 27 347 A pale green shining Dor, or Comb-chaffer, from its Horns when expanded resembling a Comb.
comb-cleat n. (see cleat n. 2b; cf. sense 7).
comb-cutter n. a comb-maker.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > makers of other articles > [noun] > of combs
combmakerc1450
comb-cutter1874
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Comb-cutter's saw..is usually a double saw, in which two blades are affixed to one stock, one projecting beyond the other, and the less salient acting as a spacer to start the next kerf.
comb-feat n. [translating French tour de peigne] Obsolete ‘a dressing or thrashing’ (Davies): cf. comb v.1 3.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais in Wks. (1694) ii. vi. ii. 38 I must..handsomly give thee the Combfeat [Fr. un tour de peigne]. With this he took him by the Throat.
comb filter n. (see quot. 1960).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > [noun] > filter > type of
band-pass filter1922
slope filter1937
comb filter1941
state variable1942
noise filter1960
notch filter1962
1941 P. Mertz Television—Scanning Process 20 A sort of comb filter having pass bands at the multiples of the line-scanning frequencies.
1960 N. M. Cooke & J. Markus Electronics & Nucleonics Dict. 86/2 Comb filter, a wave filter whose frequency spectrum consists of a number of equi-spaced elements resembling the teeth of a comb.
comb-footed adj. having feet furnished with structures resembling combs.
ΚΠ
1786 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 74 Your comb-footed bird.
comb-foundation n. a thin sheet of beeswax, made to resemble the middle wall of honeycomb, placed in a hive for bees to build their comb upon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > bee-keeping > [noun] > bee-keeping equipment
mantle1609
crown pina1642
queen cage1853
foundation1867
smoker1875
comb-foundation1880
honey bucket1886
bee-smoker1897
1880 Harper's Mag. Oct. 778/1 Comb foundation has another and far greater merit than that of saving labor for the bee: it secures a perfectly even, straight comb for each frame.
1882 N.Y. Tribune 16 Aug. Comb foundation is one of the great aids in apiculture.
1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 306/1 Comb foundation is another important invention, consisting of sheets of pure beeswax on which are embossed the bases of the cells of the honey-comb.
comb-frame n. a frame placed in a hive to be filled with honeycomb.
comb-fringe n. (see quot.)
ΚΠ
1884 W. G. Stables Our Friend Dog vii. 59 Comb-fringe—The hair that droops or hangs down from the tail of a Setter.
comb-honey n. honey in the comb, or with portions of the comb remaining in it.
comb-jelly n. a ctenophoran jellyfish belonging to the order Cydippidea.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Diploblastica > phylum Coelenterata > [noun] > class Ctenophora > class Tentacula > order Cydippidea > member of
comb-jelly1889
1889 Cent. Dict. Comb-jelly.
1903 J. R. A. Davis Nat. Hist. Animals II. xiv. 155 A common British Comb-Jelly, Cydippe,..which is rowed through the water by eight longitudinal rows of little paddles, which suggest by their appearance the teeth of a comb.
1959 A. Hardy Fish & Fisheries iii. 53 Planktonic predators such as the comb-jellies (ctenophores) Pleurobrachia—or ‘sea gooseberries’, as the fishermen call them.
comb-pecked adj. pecked on the comb.
ΚΠ
1602 T. Dekker Blurt Master-Constable sig. D2v An old combe-peckt rascall that was beaten out a'th Cocke-pit..to come crowing among vs.
comb-post n. a post to which one of the combs is attached in wool-combing.
ΚΠ
1888 Encycl. Brit. at Wool The operative..had a comb-post..and a comb-pot.
comb-pot n. a small stove in which the wool-combs are heated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > treating or processing wool > [noun] > combing > comb > stove for heating
comb-pot1782
1782 A. M. Bailey Mech. Machines I. 112 This improvement of the Comb-pot will be the means of preserving the health..of many thousand wool-combers.
1888 Encycl. Brit. at Wool The operative..had a comb-post..and a comb-pot.
comb-saw n. a saw for cutting the teeth of combs.
comb-wise adv. in manner of a comb.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

combv.1

Brit. /kəʊm/, U.S. /koʊm/
Forms: Also Middle English kome, kombe, 1500s–1600s combe. β. northern1500s– kame, 1500s kaym, 1700s– kaim.
Etymology: < comb n.; it has taken the place of the earlier umlauted verb kemb v. < Old English cęmbian, the past participle of which survives as kempt.
1.
a. transitive. To draw a comb through the hair for the purpose of cleaning, disentangling, or arranging; to dress with a comb; to curry a horse.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > beautify (the hair) [verb (transitive)] > comb
kembc1000
comb1398
pectinate1623
rede1718
to comb out1854
redd1864
back-comb1865
fine-tooth comb1889
rat1904
hackle1929
tease1957
sleek1959
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vi. v. 193 The moder wasshith and kometh the chyldren.
?a1400 Morte Arth. 1003 The berdez of burlyche kyngez, Crispid and kombide.
1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano Regimen Sanitatis Salerni sig. B iij b To combe the heed is very holsome.
1594 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 iii. iii. 15 Coame downe his haire.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §739 To make their Hair black, by combing it with a Leaden Comb.
1752 S. Johnson Rambler No. 195. ⁋10 He..blustered when his wig was not combed with exactness.
1830 Ld. Tennyson Mermaid in Poems 28 With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair.
absolute.1700 W. Congreve Way of World iii. i. 41 The Gentlemen stay but to Comb, Madam.β. 1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth viii. sig. E.i Kayme your heade oft.a1598 D. Fergusson Sc. Prov. (1641) sig. D3 Kame single, kame sair.1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd i. ii He kaims his hair..and gaes right snug.1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. vi. 128 As crouse as a cat when the fleas are caimed aff her.
b. inverted construction (the comb as object).
ΚΠ
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 652 A comb being made of the left horn of a ram, and combed vpon the head.
c. to comb the cat: see quots.
ΚΠ
1816 C. James New Mil. Dict. (ed. 4) at Cat To Comb the Cat, a term used among sailors and soldiers, signifying to arrange the different cords of a cat o' nine tails..by untangling them, and drawing the whole through the fingers.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Combing the cat, the boatswain, or other operator, running his fingers through the cat-o'-nine-tails, to separate them.
2.
a. To dress (wool, flax, etc.) with a comb, so as to separate the fibres, bring them into parallel order, and separate the shorter from the longer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > [verb (transitive)] > comb
tozea1250
kemba1300
card1333
comb1577
gill1864
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 39 The bundels [of flax]..are..combed and hacked vpon an iron combe.
1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. ii. i. 195 They don't..comb Wool in the Monasteries.
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 215 The tow or short fibrous matter combed off from the flaxen locks.
1871 D. G. Rossetti Staff & Scrip in Poems vi Her women..In silence combed the fleece.
b. House-painting. To grain with a comb.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > decorating and painting > decorate [verb (transitive)] > paint > grain
grain1798
comb1867
1867 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) ii. iii. 697 Graining (or combing, as it is termed, in some late specifications).
3. humorously. To beat, thrash, give a ‘dressing’ to; e.g. in to comb a person's head with a three-legged stool, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > administer corporal punishment [verb (transitive)] > beat
threshOE
beatc1000
to lay on?c1225
chastise1362
rapa1400
dressc1405
lack?c1475
paya1500
currya1529
coil1530
cuff1530
baste1533
thwack1533
lick1535
firka1566
trounce1568
fight1570
course1585
bumfeage1589
feague1589
lamback1589
lambskin1589
tickle1592
thrash1593
lam1595
bumfeagle1598
comb1600
fer1600
linge1600
taw1600
tew1600
thrum1604
feeze1612
verberate1614
fly-flap1620
tabor1624
lambaste1637
feak1652
flog1676
to tan (a person's) hide1679
slipper1682
liquora1689
curry-comb1708
whack1721
rump1735
screenge1787
whale1790
lather1797
tat1819
tease1819
larrup1823
warm1824
haze1825
to put (a person) through a course of sprouts1839
flake1841
swish1856
hide1875
triangle1879
to give (a person or thing) gyp1887
soak1892
to loosen (a person's) hide1902
1600 Wisdome Doctor Dodypoll v. sig. H3 The Marchant I perceiue hath trimde you Doctor, And comb'd you smoothelie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) i. i. 64 Her care should be, To combe your noddle with a three-legg'd stoole. View more context for this quotation
1679 tr. Trag. Hist. Jetzer 20 He would have..combed his head with a Bunch of Keys.
1859 E. Bulwer-Lytton What will he do with It? (1st Edinb. ed.) II. iv. xvi. 116 Till I find you a wife, who will comb your head for you.
4. transferred.
a. To scrape or rake with an action like that of a comb. to comb off, to remove by such an action (cf. brush v.2 5); also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > rubbing or friction > rub [verb (transitive)] > scrape
shavec725
shrapec1000
claw1377
screeve?1440
scartc1480
gratec1530
rape1533
ruffle1615
corrade1646
comb1654
rasp1707
scrape1731
skin1795
scuff1897
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > remove or take away > by combing
to kemb from or off1601
to comb off1850
1654 R. Vilvain tr. Enchiridium Epigr. 177 Strings [of a lute]..Which he combs equaly.
1850 T. Carlyle Latter-day Pamphlets iii. 20 He..will..be combed off by the elm-boughs, and left sprawling in the ditch.
1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. ii. 66 There would be plenty of voters to be combed off by a Radical who offered himself with good pretensions.
1873 R. Browning Red Cotton Night-cap Country i. 19 From this [fiddle] did Paganini comb the fierce Electric sparks.
1878 Scribners Mag. 15 231/1 The oysterman begins to ‘comb’ the beds..by means of coarse-meshed dredges.
b. To search or examine minutely. colloquial (originally U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > scrutinize [verb (transitive)]
through-seekOE
gropea1250
to search outa1382
ensearch1382
boltc1386
examinea1387
ransackc1390
ripea1400
search1409
overreach?a1425
considerc1425
perquirec1460
examec1480
peruse?1520
grounda1529
study1528
oversearch1532
perscrute1536
scrute1536
to go over ——1537
scan1548
examinate1560
rifle1566
to consider of1569
excuss1570
ripe1573
sift1573
sift1577
to pry into ——1581
dive1582
rub1591
explore1596
pervestigate1610
dissecta1631
profound1643
circumspect1667
scrutinize1671
perscrutatea1679
introspect1683
rummage1690
reconnoitre1740
scrutinate1742
to look through1744
scrutiny1755
parse1788
gun1819
cat-haul1840
vivisect1876
scour1882
microscope1888
tooth-comb1893
X-ray1896
comb1904
fine-tooth comb1949
1904 ‘O. Henry’ Cabbages & Kings iv. 80 In Coralia Señor Goodwin himself led the searching party which combed that town as carefully as a woman combs her hair.
1913 C. E. Mulford Coming of Cassidy ix. 138 Then, sweeping north, they combed the range to the northern line [for cattle].
1927 Daily Express 23 July 10/6 Search for missing scientist. Plans for ‘combing’ a ten-mile radius.
1927 Morning Post 19 Aug. 7 The Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Hawaii is being combed to-day by aircraft and shipping for signs of the two 'planes.
c. Of a ship: to turn into line with the tracks of approaching torpedoes in order to avoid being hit.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > operations or manoeuvres > perform operation or manoeuvre [verb (intransitive)] > turn into line with torpedo track
comb1942
1942 G. Hackforth-Jones One-One-One ix. 94 With smoke pouring from the gap in the bows the ship was swung to starboard to ‘comb’ the tracks of the approaching torpedoes.
1954 P. K. Kemp Fleet Air Arm 134 The Formidable had no difficulty in avoiding them [sc. the torpedoes], as she had time at that range to alter course and comb the tracks.
1957 R. Barker Ship-busters xiii. 245 The tanker..was turning towards the track of the torpedo in an endeavour to ‘comb’ it.
5. intransitive. Of a wave: ‘To roll over, as the top of a wave; or to break with a white foam’ (Webster, 1828). (Apparently of U.S. origin.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > movement of waves > move restlessly about [verb (intransitive)] > break with foam
comb1807
crest1850
1807 J. Barlow Columbiad i. 40 The Stream ungovernable foams with ire, Climbs, combs tempestuous.
1862 G. W. Thornbury Life J. M. W. Turner I. 366 Waves spitting round piles or combing upon the shore.
1881 W. C. Russell Sailor's Sweetheart II. vi. 321 The waves combed over the vessel in green seas.
6. to comb out.
a. transitive. To disentangle or dress (the hair) with a comb; hence figurative, to separate or sort out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separate [verb (transitive)] > separate from main body
skillc1175
to tell outc1325
shillc1440
sequestrate1513
sorta1535
shoal1571
segregate1579
dismember1580
single1582
scatter1588
disgregate1593
recond1608
sepone1619
sequester1625
canton1653
to cantonize outa1670
portion1777
to set off1795
to comb out1854
distinguish1866
split1924
hive off1931
section1960
separate1962
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > beautify (the hair) [verb (transitive)] > comb
kembc1000
comb1398
pectinate1623
rede1718
to comb out1854
redd1864
back-comb1865
fine-tooth comb1889
rat1904
hackle1929
tease1957
sleek1959
1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross (new ed.) lv. 390 Forthwith the dandified Horatio began to comb out his words, and string together his sentences.
1855 C. Kingsley Heroes ii. v They..combed out their golden hair.
1888 J. W. Burgon Lives Twelve Good Men II. v. 33 It was as if he had combed out his cares.
1937 E. Hemingway To have & have Not iii. xxvi. 259 He took..the pins out and combed it out and it was just like gold.
1964 Sunday Express 1 Mar. 19/4 Clients on all sides were being ‘combed out’.
1966 ‘L. Black’ Bait viii. 124 Emma's hair-do was nearly finished... ‘Just finishing. Let me comb it out.’
1966 J. Stevens Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 38/1 Comb-out. (1) To comb through the set and dried hairdress preparatory to the final arrangement of the tresses. (2) To comb a head of hair.
b. To clear out (men) for military service from civil employments.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > enlistment or recruitment > enlist (soldiers) [verb (transitive)] > compel to enlist
prest1481
press1542
impress1598
imprest1645
lot1757
conscribe1806
conscript1813
draft1862
press-gang1899
to comb out1916
1916 Daily Mail 1 Nov. 5/6Comb out the contractors' useless men,’ said a farmer delegate.
1918 Mrs. H. Ward War & Elizabeth vii My two brothers are dead in France. I shall be ‘combed’ out directly.
1923 G. D. H. Cole Workshop Organization 28 The successive ‘combings-out’ of the munition works for further ‘man-power’ for the fighting forces.
c. = 4b. Also, to attack systematically.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > attack [verb (transitive)] > attack systematically
to comb out1917
1917 ‘I. Hay’ Carrying On viii. 212 Fighting in the Redoubt itself had almost ceased, though a humorous sergeant, followed by acolytes bearing bombs, was still ‘combing out’ certain residential districts in the centre of the maze.
1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson It's a Piece of Cake 22 To comb out, to sweep over in formation, attacking ground targets with gun-fire. Thus, ‘We're combing out the North of France this afternoon’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

combv.2

Obsolete: see combing adj.2
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

> see also

also refers to : coombcombn.1
also refers to : coombcombecombn.2
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n.a700v.11398v.2
see also
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