fine-tooth comb

Questions about fine-tooth comb

What is another word for fine-tooth comb?

It depends which fine-tooth comb you mean. In the sense “a comb with teeth set close together”, the synonyms are fine-toothed comb. Across all 2 senses there are 1 distinct synonyms, and they are not interchangeable with each other — this page lists them under the sense each one belongs to.

What is the opposite of fine-tooth comb?

WordNet records no antonym for fine-tooth comb. Antonymy in WordNet is a relation between specific word forms rather than between concepts, so it is recorded only where lexicographers judged the pairing direct. An absence here means none was recorded, not that none can be imagined.

Why are the synonyms for fine-tooth comb split into groups?

Because fine-tooth comb carries 2 recorded senses and each has its own set of substitutes. A single flat list would put words from unrelated meanings side by side with nothing to tell them apart, which is exactly how a writer picks the wrong one. The grouping comes from WordNet's synsets, not from an editorial judgement of ours.

Where do the synonyms for fine-tooth comb come from?

From Princeton University's WordNet, a lexical database maintained by lexicographers since 1985. A synonym here means a word form that shares a synset with this word — a set of forms interchangeable in one recorded context. Nothing on this page is generated by a language model.

Other views of fine-tooth comb

• Full entry for fine-tooth combAll 2 senses, with examples, usage labels, syllables and pronunciation.
• Rhymes for fine-tooth combWhether this word can be rhymed at all — it is not in the pronouncing dictionary.
• Thesaurus homeHow WordNet synsets work, and the collections built for synonym work.