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horse-comb

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: horse comb and horsecomb

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English horscomb, horsecombe, horskame, horskambe, from Old English horscamb (horse-comb, curry-comb), equivalent to horse +‎ comb.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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horse-comb (plural horse-combs)

  1. A comb used by horse groomers for combing the mane and tail of horses.
  2. A curry comb (comb used for brushing a horse's coat)
    • 1675, Christopher Wase, Dictionarium Minus, A Compendious Dictionary English-Latin and Latin-English [] [1], 2nd edition, page 599:
      A Horſe-comb. Strigilis.
    • 1837, “Driving to Cover:-Portrait of J. S. W. S. Erle Drax, Esq. Charborough Park, Dorsetshire.”, in The New Sporting Magazine[2], volume 13, number 79, page 262:
      In the reign of Henry V, the service seems to have been changed to the annual delivery of a “horse comb, value four-pence.”
    • 2003, Pamela Howe Taylor, The Germans We Trusted: Stories of Friendship Resulting from the Second World War[3], →ISBN, page 34:
      After six weeks in Belgium he arrived in England with only two possessions: an aluminium horse comb and a handkerchief.

Anagrams

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