fine-tooth comb

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English

WOTD – 3 August 2022

Etymology

A fine-tooth comb (noun sense 1) or nit comb used for removing head lice and their nits (eggs) from the hair.

The noun is derived from fine (“particularly slender”) +‎ tooth (“sharp projection”) +‎ comb.[1] The verb is derived from the noun.[2]

Pronunciation

Noun

fine-tooth comb (plural fine-tooth combs)

  1. 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
  2. (figuratively) 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)

  1. (dated) To comb or go through (hair, an animal's fur, etc.) with a comb having fine, closely spaced teeth.
  2. (figuratively) To search (something or somewhere) meticulously.
    Synonyms: comb over, comb through, leave no stone unturned, pore over, scour, turn upside down

Translations

References

  1. ^ “fine-tooth comb, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “fine-tooth comb, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “fine-tooth comb, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
  3. ^ “toothcomb, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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