# comb

> English word · Noun · IPA /kəʊm/ · frequency rank #14,493

## Definitions
1. A toothed implement:
2. A toothed implement:
3. A toothed implement:
4. A toothed implement:
5. A toothed implement:
6. A toothed implement:
7. A toothed implement:
8. A toothed implement:
9. A toothed implement:
10. A toothed implement:
11. A crest:
12. A crest:
13. A crest:
14. A structure of hexagon cells made by bees for storing honey; honeycomb.
15. The main body of a harmonica containing the air chambers and to which the reed plates are attached.
16. A former, commonly cone-shaped, used in hat manufacturing for hardening soft fibre.
17. An old English measure of corn equal to the half quarter.
18. The curling crest of a wave; a comber.
19. A connected and reduced curve with irreducible components consisting of a smooth subcurve (called the handle) and one or more additional irreducible components (called teeth) that each intersect the handle in a single point that is unequal to the unique point of intersection for any of the other teeth.
20. A kind of vertical plate in a lode.

## Etymology
From Middle English comb, from Old English camb (“comb”), from Proto-West Germanic *kamb, from Proto-Germanic *kambaz (“comb”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth”), a doublet of cam. The verb is derived from the noun and displaced the older verb kemb.
Cognates
Compare Saterland Frisian Koum, Swedish/Dutch kam, Danish kam, Norwegian kam, German Kamm; also Tocharian B keme, Lithuanian žam̃bas (“sharp edge”), Old Church Slavonic зѫбъ (zǫbŭ), Albanian dhëmb, Ancient Greek γομφίος (gomphíos, “backtooth, molar”), Sanskrit जम्भ (jambha)).

## Easily confused with
- **cop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cop)
- **con** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-con)
- **cow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cow)
- **cos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cos)
- **cum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cum)
- **cox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cox)
- **Cub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cub)
- **cor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cor)
- **coo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-coo)
- **cot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cot)
- **coz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-coz)
- **coy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-coy)
- **CRM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-crm)
- **Cov** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cov)
- **CSM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-csm)
- **come** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-come)
- **cost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cost)
- **cool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-cool)
- **copy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-copy)
- **core** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comb-vs-core)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ccomb`, `cmob`, `cobm`, `combb`, `commb`, `ocmb`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/comb