COMBING Synonyms: 55 Similar and Opposite Words

combing

verb

Definition of combing

present participle of comb

as in searching

to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something combed the library for the missing book

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of combing Police, soldiers and volunteers have been combing through wreckage. — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026 Hiring a researcher, Rice began investigating, speaking with people from McDonnell’s past and combing through archival records. — Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 11 Aug. 2026 Compared with Google’s once-user-friendly UI and more relevant results, combing through an AltaVista results page required patience and genuine skill that was honed over time. — Alan Bradley, ArsTechnica, 7 Aug. 2026 Police told local news outlets that thieves used one of the company trucks to smash through the site’s security gate and then spent eight hours combing through the building. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 7 Aug. 2026 This was 1979, when Sonny was combing greater Seattle for prospects as a plucky young head coach at Montana State. — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 5 Aug. 2026 Independent astronomers combing through public NASA data first discovered the rocket was on a collision course with the moon, NASA said. — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2026 During pre-deployment cybersecurity testing, three Anthropic models gained unauthorized access to production systems belonging to outside organizations, and the company disclosed it on July 30 after combing through 141,006 evaluation runs. — Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026 Sunday morning, federal agents could be seen alongside local and state police combing through the In-N-Out parking lot. — Mark Dee, Idaho Statesman, 2 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for combing

searching

Verb

Some are moving to 2027, others are still searching for a distributor and a few need more time in the edit bay.

— Clayton Davis, Variety, 10 Aug. 2026
Writing my memoir, Don’t Be Evil, sent me searching for a broader explanation of how Silicon Valley became so powerful, so deeply distrusted, and still so difficult to meaningfully challenge.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of searching

Browse Nearby Words

combines

combing

combing (out)

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Style

“Combing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/combing. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of combing

verb

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