Synonyms of combing

combing

verb

present participle of comb

as in searching

to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something

combed the library for the missing book

Synonyms & Similar Words

• searching
• scanning
• finding
• scouring
• surveying
• raking
• exploring
• examining
• investigating
• locating
• rummaging
• dredging
• trolling
• inspecting
• digging (through)
• ransacking
• hunting (through)
• sorting (through)
• discovering
• reviewing
• rifling
• scrutinizing
• detecting
• learning
• determining
• ascertaining
• auditing
• studying
• checking (out)
• probing
• frisking
• tracking (down)
• perusing
• hitting (on or upon)
• browsing
• getting
• snooping
• finding out
• running down
• prospecting
• poking (around)
• shaking down
• ferreting (out)
• patting down
• looking over
• glancing (over)
• descrying
• skirmishing
• grubbing (about)
• scaring up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hiding
• losing
• ignoring
• abandoning
• neglecting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of combing

This led to years of combing through the Pan Am and Coast Guard archives in search of clues about the location of the plane's wreckage. — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 22 July 2026

Authorities are still combing through the Bédar area in search for any victims. — ABC News, 11 July 2026

Authorities are still combing through the Bédar area in search of any victims. — Sergio Rodrigo, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026

When the time came for the Southern Living staff to begin the process of combing through 60 years of recipes, we were each randomly assigned a couple of issues from various years. — Jenna Sims, Southern Living, 8 July 2026

The Idaho Conservation League released its first State of the Snake report last week, combing water quality data along the entire river to highlight what could be the biggest problems and outline possible solutions. — Hannah Smith updated July 8, Idaho Statesman, 8 July 2026

Meanwhile, Dondi’s son and son-in-law kept combing the flood area for objects, as did her husband, who also transported bins of things back to the warehouse and coached volunteers. — Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 6 July 2026

Buyers spend weekends combing through boxes and basements precisely because every so often someone misses something. — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 6 July 2026

Curating requires combing through archives, then culling them into something cohesive. — Lonnie G. Bunch Iii, The Atlantic, 4 July 2026