toothcomb
A comb with finely spaced teeth, chiefly as a metaphorical means of making a thorough…A comb with finely spaced teeth, chiefly as a metaphorical means of making a thorough search.
Meaning
2 senses(figuratively, proscribed, sometimes)A comb with finely spaced teeth, chiefly as a metaphorical means of making a thorough search.
The police went through all his possessions with a toothcomb.
(UK, proscribed, sometimes, transitive)A comb-like dental structure found in the lower jaws of certain primates consisting of long, flat front teeth with microscopic grooves, which are used for grooming fur.
Translations
2 languagesOrigin
The noun is derived from fine toothcomb, a rebracketing of fine-tooth comb. The verb is deThe noun is derived from fine toothcomb, a rebracketing of fine-tooth comb. The verb is derived from the noun.
From tooth + comb.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.