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

Justin Vernon began combing through live recordings in 2020, modeling the concept on Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series and the Neil Young Archives, a press release notes. —Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 23 Feb. 2026

His disappearance took a toll on relatives, according to his cousin Laura Mora, who spoke to The Courier-News in January and joined family members in combing the area searching for him. —Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2026

Investigators are combing through tens of thousands of tips and poring over evidence, including analyzing DNA on a glove found near Guthrie’s home and investigating a backpack seen in a video of the suspect. —Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 17 Feb. 2026

Investigators have determined that most of the gloves belonged to searchers combing the area for evidence. —Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 15 Feb. 2026

Congress passed a law mandating their release, and lawmakers are now combing through them seeking further accountability for the victims. —Saige Miller, NPR, 14 Feb. 2026

The search radius stretched two miles north of Nancy Guthrie’s house to East Skyline Drive and East Sunrise Drive, and roughly four miles south to East River Road, with investigators combing the Catalina Foothills for any evidence pertaining to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. —Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 12 Feb. 2026

On Amazon, the glorious inconvenience of browsing shelves or combing through piles has been eliminated. —Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026

Planetary scientist Jeff Plescia of Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory soon began to search the LROC imagery for Soviet landers, combing Oceanus Procellarum despite knowing that success was unlikely. —Ilya Ferapontov, Scientific American, 5 Feb. 2026