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
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Recent Examples of combing
By Jon Krawczynski The Timberwolves have been combing the trade market for weeks, evaluating possibilities both big and small.
—
New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
Petro sat in a favorite leather armchair, dressed comfortably in sneakers, slacks, and a white cardigan; a female assistant was combing his hair.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2026
Police discovered another incident while combing through weeks of GPS data.
—Brandon Truitt, CBS News, 14 Jan. 2026
Historical researcher Segtnan came across the 1948 murder of a 9-year-old girl, Birgitta Sivander, while combing newspaper archives.
—Rebecca Hannigan, PEOPLE, 10 Jan. 2026
Detectives spent the next weeks combing city cameras, which captured Gutierrez walking behind the man before the attack and running away after, the report said.
—Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 10 Jan. 2026
After combing through all the data, the Holiday Happiness Index determined that Dubai is the sunniest holiday destination in the world.
—Madeline Weinfield, Travel + Leisure, 9 Jan. 2026
Instead, utilize the time by texting, doing your nails, combing your hair, or best of all, taking a midday siesta.
—Glae Thien, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Jan. 2026
Redd said investigators are combing through surveillance video from nearby businesses and looking at license plate readers on Redwood Road and 700 North.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026
New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
Petro sat in a favorite leather armchair, dressed comfortably in sneakers, slacks, and a white cardigan; a female assistant was combing his hair.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2026
Police discovered another incident while combing through weeks of GPS data.
—Brandon Truitt, CBS News, 14 Jan. 2026
Historical researcher Segtnan came across the 1948 murder of a 9-year-old girl, Birgitta Sivander, while combing newspaper archives.
—Rebecca Hannigan, PEOPLE, 10 Jan. 2026
Detectives spent the next weeks combing city cameras, which captured Gutierrez walking behind the man before the attack and running away after, the report said.
—Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 10 Jan. 2026
After combing through all the data, the Holiday Happiness Index determined that Dubai is the sunniest holiday destination in the world.
—Madeline Weinfield, Travel + Leisure, 9 Jan. 2026
Instead, utilize the time by texting, doing your nails, combing your hair, or best of all, taking a midday siesta.
—Glae Thien, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Jan. 2026
Redd said investigators are combing through surveillance video from nearby businesses and looking at license plate readers on Redwood Road and 700 North.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for combing
searching
Verb
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His family spent an agonizing week searching through morgues, hospitals and detention facilities before finally identifying his body among piles of corpses, also shown in the viral footage.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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Police are searching for a suspect after a Florida Memorial University student was raped on campus early Sunday morning, according to Miami Gardens police.—
Anna McAllister,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Combing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/combing. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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