comb

Meaning

Noun

1. A toothed implement:
2. A toothed implement:
3. A toothed implement:
4. A toothed implement:
5. A toothed implement:
6. A toothed implement:
7. A toothed implement:
8. A toothed implement:
9. A toothed implement:
10. A crest:
11. (broadly) A crest:
12. A crest:
13. A structure of hexagon cells made by bees for storing honey; honeycomb.
14. The main body of a harmonica containing the air chambers and to which the reed plates are attached.
15. A former, commonly cone-shaped, used in hat manufacturing for hardening soft fibre.
16. An old English measure of corn equal to the half quarter.
17. The curling crest of a wave; a comber.
18. A connected and reduced curve with irreducible components consisting of a smooth subcurve (called the handle) and one or more additional irreducible components (called teeth) that each intersect the handle in a single point that is unequal to the unique point of intersection for any of the other teeth.
19. (Cornwall, obsolete) A kind of vertical plate in a lode.

Verb

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

Synonyms

crest

brush

honeycomb

reed

curry

🍛

ridge

rummage

ransack

comb out

combing

currycomb

untangle

disentangle

card

rake

coxcomb

hairbrush

hackle

combination

cockscomb

abuse

scour

dress

👗

beehive

scold

plait

hunt

search

hatchel

tease

coiffure

brow

coif

broom

🧹

berate

clobber

chide

bring up

chastise

caruncle

bobbin

beeswax

bawl out

drag

do

disentangles

drub

edge

ferret

cap

Translations

peigne

Kamm

peine

peigner

peinar

pettine

kam

pettinare

pente

kämmen

χτένα

crête

pentinar

pinta

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kəʊm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: comb

Inherited from Old English: camb

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: Koum

Cognate with Norwegian: kam

Cognate with German: Kamm

Cognate with Tokharian B: keme

Cognate with Lithuanian: žam̃bas

Cognate with Church Slavic: зѫбъ

Cognate with Albanian: dhëmb

Cognate with Ancient Greek: γομφίος

Cognate with Sanskrit: जम्भ

In summary

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)).