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fine-tooth comb
[ fahyn-tooth ]
noun
- a comb having narrow, closely set teeth.
fine-tooth comb
noun
- a comb with fine teeth set closely together
- go over with a fine-tooth comb or go over with a fine-toothed comb or go through with a fine-tooth comb or go through with a fine-toothed combto examine very thoroughly
Word History and Origins
Origin of fine-tooth comb1
Idioms and Phrases
- go over / through with a fine-tooth comb, to examine in close detail; search thoroughly; fine-comb:
The police went over the apartment with a fine-tooth comb.
More idioms and phrases containing fine-tooth comb
A method of searching or investigating in minute detail, as in He examined the figures with a fine-tooth comb but found no errors . The practice of using a comb with close-set teeth to comb out head lice was transferred to various kinds of investigation in the late 1800s.Example Sentences
How does it feel when every year your home electric bill in Tennessee is gone over with a fine tooth comb?
Then—still on the way to harbor—a really fine-tooth-comb examination of the ship began.
You could rake all hell with a fine-tooth comb and not find a worse man to try you—if you killed Adam Forbes.
The only way to close the books on this matter fast is to cover the city with a fine-tooth comb.
Dip an old tooth-brush lightly into the ink, and, holding it over the cardboard, rub the bristles gently across a fine tooth comb.
Sometimes it is more easy to find them on a fine-tooth comb passed through the hair.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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