comb

noun

• 1a strip of plastic, metal, or wood with a row of narrow teeth, used for untangling or arranging the hair.
• [in singular] an act of untangling or arranging the hair with comb:she gave her hair a comb
• a short curved type of comb, worn by women to hold the hair in place or as an adornment: her hair was held back with two tortoiseshell combs

• 2something resembling a comb in function or structure, in particular:
• a device for separating and dressing textile fibres.
• Australian/NZ the lower, fixed cutting piece of a sheep-shearing machine.
• a row of brass points for collecting the electricity in an electrostatic generator.

• 3the red fleshy crest on the head of a domestic fowl, especially a cock: a grey-speckled hen with a red comb and wattles

• 4short for honeycomb (sense 1 of the noun).

verb

• 1untangle or arrange (the hair) by drawing a comb through it:she combed her hair and put some lipstick on (as adjective, with submodifier combed)neatly combed hair
• (comb something out) remove something in the hair by drawing a comb through it:she combed the burrs out of the dog’s coat

• 2prepare (wool, flax, or cotton) for manufacture with a comb: the wool had been cleaned and combed (as adjective combed)the socks are made of soft combed cotton

• 3search carefully and systematically:police combed the area for the murder weapon [no object]:his mother combed through the cardboard boxes