comb

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
comb/kəʊm/

▶noun

• 1 an article with a row of narrow teeth, used for untangling or styling the hair.

  ■ a short curved comb worn by women to hold the hair in place.

• 2 a device for separating and dressing textile fibres.

  ■ Austral./NZ the lower, fixed cutting piece of a sheep-shearing machine.

• 3 the red fleshy crest on the head of a domestic fowl, especially a cock.

• 4 a honeycomb.

▶verb

• 1 untangle or style (the hair) with a comb.

• 2 prepare (wool, flax, or cotton) for manufacture with a comb.

• 3 search carefully and systematically.

– origin OE camb, of Gmc origin.