Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To smooth, arrange, or neaten (hair, wool, etc.) using a comb: The core action of passing a comb through fibers to detangle, straighten, or groom them.
   • To remove unwanted elements through a careful, selective process: To eliminate specific, often inferior or unnecessary, items or people from a group by thorough examination or systematic effort.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (grooming sense):
  • She took time to comb out the knots from her daughter's long hair.
  • Before spinning, you must comb out the raw wool to align the fibers.
• Verb (selective removal sense):
  • The coach promised to comb out the weakest players from the team during tryouts.
  • The audit was designed to comb out fraudulent expense claims.

Advanced Usage

• "to comb something out of something": This structure emphasizes the removal of specific things from a larger mass.
  • The detective tried to comb the truth out of the conflicting witness statements.
  • We need to comb these errors out of the database.

Variants and Related Words

• Comb (verb): The base action of using a comb. "Comb out" implies a more thorough, complete, or result-oriented process.
• Weed out (verb, phrasal): A close synonym for the selective removal sense, using the metaphor of removing weeds from a garden.
• Cull (verb): To select and remove inferior or surplus items from a group, often used in agriculture or management.
• Untangle (verb): Can be a synonym for the grooming sense when referring to removing knots.

Synonyms

• Groom: To make neat or tidy (for the grooming sense).
• Sift out: To separate and remove by careful examination.
• Eliminate: To completely remove or get rid of.
• Prune: To trim by cutting away unwanted parts (metaphorical for the removal sense).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Comb through (something): To examine something very carefully and thoroughly. This often, but not always, precedes the act of "combing out."
  • We must comb through all the applications before we can comb out the unqualified candidates.

Related Idioms

• To separate the wheat from the chaff: This idiom is conceptually related to the "selective removal" sense of comb out, meaning to distinguish valuable people or things from worthless ones.

Verb

1. smoothen and neaten with or as with a comb
   • comb your hair before dinner
   • comb the wool
2. remove unwanted elements
   • The company weeded out the incompetent people
   • The new law weeds out the old inequities