Meaning & use
fine-toothed comb
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Meanings
nounidiomfigurative
A very careful and detailed method of searching or checking, used in the idiom go through something with a fine-toothed comb.
Grammar: Fixed with through or over: investigators combed the files with a fine-toothed comb.
Patterns
- go through something with a fine-toothed comb
- search something with a fine-toothed comb
The auditors went through the accounts with a fine-toothed comb but found nothing wrong.
Police searched the garden with a fine-toothed comb for any trace of the missing keys.
Before publishing, the editor goes over every page with a fine-toothed comb.
nouncountable
A comb with thin, closely spaced teeth, used to remove tangles, lice or tiny particles from hair or fur.
Grammar: Literal use: she ran a fine-toothed comb through the dog's coat.
Patterns
- run a fine-toothed comb through something
The nurse used a fine-toothed comb to check the children's hair.
He ran a fine-toothed comb through his beard.
A fine-toothed comb is good for catching fleas on a cat.
Word forms
| plural | fine-toothed combs |
|---|
Common combinations
- go through with a fine-toothed comb
- We went through the contract with a fine-toothed comb.
- search with a fine-toothed comb
- Detectives searched the room with a fine-toothed comb.
- comb over with a fine-toothed comb
- She combed over her essay with a fine-toothed comb.
- examine with a fine-toothed comb
- Experts examined the painting with a fine-toothed comb.
- run a fine-toothed comb through
- Run a fine-toothed comb through your hair to remove knots.
Synonyms and how they differ
- thoroughly
- Thoroughly is a plain adverb for doing something completely, while the comb idiom adds a picture of sifting every detail.
- meticulously
- Meticulously stresses extreme care and neatness, whereas the idiom stresses searching to find small flaws.
- minutely
- Minutely means in tiny detail and is more formal than the idiom.
- scrupulously
- Scrupulously suggests careful honesty and attention to correctness, while the comb idiom is about searching closely.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: fine-toothed comb or fine-tuned?
fine-toothed comb vs fine-tuned
Fine-tuned means adjusted slightly to improve it, whereas a fine-toothed comb is a tool or method of thorough checking.
Practice
Before the ceremony, the inspector checked the building with a ______, looking at every wire and exit sign.
Choose one answer.
Going through something with a fine-toothed comb means searching very carefully. A broad brush is the opposite, because it suggests rough, general treatment.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fine-toothed comb”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.