Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An anatomical structure found in certain primates consisting of long, flat teeth with microscopic grooves, and used for grooming the fur.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word toothcomb.

Examples

  • "I hadn't seen the papers for it and until my advisers and I had gone through the papers with a toothcomb there was no way that was going to be paid."

    Rangers' cash mess will not make club go bust, says owner Craig Whyte 2011

  • When an action is received it is carefully disassembled and gone over with a very fine toothcomb.

    What to Do With Your Gift From George W. 2008

  • Working his chainsaw with extraordinary deftness, he executes a series of toothcomb incisions that may exceed a hundred into a column of green wood.

    Wildwood Roger Deakin 2009

  • She also lacked two key elements of modern lemurs: a grooming claw and a row of lower teeth known as the toothcomb.

    Archive 2009-05-01 News from Mad Plato 2009

  • She also lacked two key elements of modern lemurs: a grooming claw and a row of lower teeth known as the toothcomb.

    THE LINK IS STILL MISSING News from Mad Plato 2009

  • Working his chainsaw with extraordinary deftness, he executes a series of toothcomb incisions that may exceed a hundred into a column of green wood.

    Wildwood Roger Deakin 2009

  • X-rays reveal both baby and adult teeth, plus the lack of a “toothcomb” or a “grooming claw,” which is an attribute of lemurs which are also primates, like us.

    47 Million Year Old Primate Fossil Discovered | Impact Lab 2009

  • The bodies in question are going through a whole range of issues with a fine toothcomb: how Obasanjo managed his billions of oil money in the days when he was president and oil minister, how additional billions were frittered away on improving the power sector without anyone having anything to show for it and how companies were sold off to cronies on the cheap.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2008

  • In the first attempt for many years to chart the long-term trend in tropical forest area, he spent more than three years going through all available United Nations data with a fine toothcomb – and found some serious problems.

    Are tropical forests declining??? GayandRight 2008

  • Inevitably, it now falls to take a fine toothcomb to the European Council's mandate.

    Archive 2007-06-01 Richard 2007

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • This word isn't in many dictionaries, but it is used by primatologists to mean the row of specialised teeth that pottos and other prosimians use to groom themselves (and each other).

    July 11, 2007