fine-tooth comb
UK/ˌfaɪntuːθ ˈkəʊm//ˌfaɪnˌtuθ ˈkoʊm/
fine-tooth comb noun: a comb with fine, closely spaced teeth, especially one used for removing head lice and their nits (eggs) from the hair; a nit comb.
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.
- The practice of combing the heads of children too frequently with a fine tooth comb is a bad one, as the points of the teeth are quite sure to scratch and irritate the scalp, and are almost sure to produce scurf or dandruff.1858, Lola Montez, The Arts of Beauty, Chapter 21
- 'Member dat rainy eve dat I drove you out,
Wid nothing but a fine tooth comb?1902, Hughie Cannon, “Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?”
- Synonyms:
- toothcomb
- A means of making a thorough search.
- The police went through his possessions with a fine-tooth comb.
- If you had to make some verses on the topics of the day,
You would read the morning papers rather fully;
For you’d like to find a theme to make your readers shout: “Hooray!”
And to make your Dear Employer say: “That’s bully!”
You would scan aforesaid journals with a very fine-tooth comb
(With the...1912, Franklin P. Adams, Of Course You Would
- Synonyms:
- toothcomb
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)
- To comb or go through (hair, an animal's fur, etc.) with a comb having fine, closely spaced teeth.
- To search (something or somewhere) meticulously.
- "There's one other way of discovering the writer,—find a Rem-Smith typewriter with an alignment imperfect in just this way."
"Yes," said Astro. "We might begin and fine-tooth-comb the city for it.:Template:.."1912, Frank Gelett Burgess, The Master of Mysteries, Mrs. Stellery's Letters
- Synonyms:
- comb over, comb through, leave no stone unturned, pore over, scour, turn upside down
- "There's one other way of discovering the writer,—find a Rem-Smith typewriter with an alignment imperfect in just this way."
Synonyms of fine-tooth comb
Forms of fine-tooth comb
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | fine-tooth combs |
| alternative form | fine-toothed comb |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | fine-tooth combs |
| present participle | fine-tooth combing |
| past participle | fine-tooth combed |
| past | fine-tooth combed |
Origin of fine-tooth comb
The noun is derived from fine (“particularly slender”) + tooth (“sharp projection”) + comb. The verb is derived from the noun.
Words formed from fine-tooth comb
Words that rhyme with fine-tooth comb
Questions about fine-tooth comb
- What does fine-tooth comb mean?
- Fine-tooth comb means a comb with fine, closely spaced teeth, especially one used for removing head lice and their nits (eggs) from the hair; a nit comb.
- What part of speech is fine-tooth comb?
- Fine-tooth comb can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce fine-tooth comb?
- Fine-tooth comb is pronounced /ˌfaɪntuːθ ˈkəʊm/ (UK).
- What is the plural of fine-tooth comb?
- The plural of fine-tooth comb is fine-tooth combs.
Words near fine-tooth comb in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fine-tooth comb (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-fine-tooth comb.oga.
Cite this entry: “fine-tooth comb.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fine-tooth_comb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.