Using a comb to brush through hair or fibers to untangle and smooth them, or searching thoroughly through something.
From Old English 'camb' (a comb), Germanic roots. The figurative meaning of 'searching thoroughly' evolved because combing through hair involves careful, systematic attention.
When detectives 'comb through' evidence or police 'comb an area,' they're borrowing the image of patient, systematic care from actually combing tangles out of hair—one strand at a time!
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