comb

noun

1. Alternative form of coomb.

   “[Regarding a period of agricultural depression] Even on the good land where the farmer hadn't enough capital to look after it and have it properly drained he couldn't hold on. He'd be getting a yield of eight combs of wheat and ten combs of barley per acre. But that wasn't good enough: it gave him no leeway. This is understandable when you recollect the price of wheat at that time.”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English comb, from Old English camb (“comb”), from Proto-West Germanic *kamb, from Proto-Germanic *kambaz (“comb”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth”), a doublet of cam. The verb is derived from the noun and displaced the older verb kemb. Cognates Compare Saterland Frisian Koum, Swedish/Dutch kam, Danish kam, Norwegian kam, German Kamm; also Tocharian B keme, Lithuanian žam̃bas (“sharp edge”), Old Church Slavonic зѫбъ (zǫbŭ), Albanian dhëmb, Ancient Greek γομφίος (gomphíos, “backtooth, molar”), Sanskrit जम्भ (jambha)).

1. Especially of hair or fur, to groom with a toothed implement, especially a comb.

   “I like the way you comb your hair / And I like those stylish clothes you wear / It's just the little things you do / That show how much you really care”

2. To separate choice cotton fibers from worsted cloth fibers.
3. To search thoroughly as if raking over an area with a comb.

   “Police combed the field for evidence after the assault.”

4. To roll over, as the top or crest of a wave; to break with a white foam, as waves.
5. To turn a vessel parallel to (the track of) (a torpedo) so as to reduce one's size as a target.

   “The aircraft split up so as to attack from different, preselected bearings, thus confusing the gunners and making it difficult for the ship to comb torpedo tracks.”

   “Sixteen torpedo bombers divided their attention between the two ships. Repulse combed the torpedo wakes and knocked down two of the attackers.”