comb-out UK /ˈkəʊ̯mˌaʊ̯t/US /ˈkoʊ̯mˌaʊ̯t/noun 3comb out verb 2forms 4 noun3 •An act of combing out hair. •(informal) The identification and removal of someone or something. •(slang) The act of sorting out.[…]we were stopped by ten police mobile[…]this was one of the periodic comb-outs of streets in which the police hoped to catch criminals unawares. — 1969 comb out verb2 •To remove (something) by combing; to thoroughly comb (something); to thoroughly comb (something) so as to remove something else from it (such as tangles, dirt, or nits).I combed out the tangles in my hair. I combed them all out with that fancy comb that Ashley gave me.You have to comb out the dog's coat regularly. You need to comb all the tangles out of it. •(figurative) To winnow; for example, to exempt (someone) from a military draft by filtering them out of the list.The government combed out some people from the compulsory action.We've finally combed out this list by removing the newly ineligible people from it. formscombed out · combing out · combs out · comb-outs
