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Contents
fine-tooth comb definition
Overview
This page has 4 definitions of fine-tooth comb in English. Fine-tooth comb is a noun and verb. Examples of how to use fine-tooth comb in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .
English
Etymology
The noun is derived from fine (“particularly slender”) + tooth (“sharp projection”) + comb.[1] The verb is derived from the noun.[2]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌfaɪntuːθ ˈkəʊm/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌfaɪnˌtuθ ˈkoʊm/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -əʊm
Noun
fine-tooth comb (plural fine-tooth combs)
- A comb with fine, closely spaced teeth, especially one used for removing head lice and their nits (eggs) from the hair; a nit comb.
- Synonym: toothcomb
- (figurative) A means of making a thorough search.
- Synonym: toothcomb
- The police went through his possessions with a fine-tooth comb.
Usage notes
- The term is sometimes misunderstood as fine toothcomb, especially in the figurative sense. This form of the expression, and the associated concept of a toothcomb, is often considered erroneous, but fine toothcomb is said to be now “accepted in standard English” by at least the Oxford English Dictionary.[3]
- Sense 2 (“means of making a thorough search”) is generally used in the form “to go through with a fine-tooth comb”.
Alternative forms
Derived terms
Translations
See also
Verb
fine-tooth comb (third-person singular simple present fine-tooth combs, present participle fine-tooth combing, simple past and past participle fine-tooth combed) (transitive)
- (dated) To comb or go through (hair, an animal's fur, etc.) with a comb having fine, closely spaced teeth.
- (figurative) To search (something or somewhere) meticulously.
- Synonyms: comb over, comb through, leave no stone unturned, pore over, scour, turn upside down
Translations
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References
- ^ “fine-tooth comb, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “fine-tooth comb, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. - ^ “fine-tooth comb, v.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022. - ^ “toothcomb, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.