combing
    n 1: the act of drawing a comb through hair; "his hair needed a
         comb" [syn: comb, combing]

Comb \Comb\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Combed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Combing.]
   To disentangle, cleanse, or adjust, with a comb; to lay
   smooth and straight with, or as with, a comb; as, to comb
   hair or wool. See under Combing.
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         Comb down his hair; look, look! it stands upright.
                                                  --Shak.
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Combing \Comb"ing\, n.
   1. The act or process of using a comb or a number of combs;
      as, the combing of one's hair; the combing of wool.
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   Note: The process of combing is used in straightening wool of
         long staple; short wool is carded.
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   2. pl.
      (a) That which is caught or collected with a comb, as
          loose, tangled hair.
      (b) Hair arranged to be worn on the head.
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                The baldness, thinness, and . . . deformity of
                their hair is supplied by borders and combings.
                                                  --Jer. Taylor.
      (c) (Naut.) See Coamings.
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   Combing machine (Textile Manuf.), a machine for combing
      wool, flax, cotton, etc., and separating the longer and
      more valuable fiber from the shorter. See also Carding
      machine, under Carding.
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