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comb over

B1 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

When a person grows their hair long on one side and combs it over the top of their head to hide where they're going bald.

Literal meaning: Fully transparent: to comb hair over from one area to cover another.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

To comb hair growing on one side of the head over the top to cover a bald patch.

"He combed over what little hair he had left and hoped no one would notice."

Grammar: separable
2 B1 neutral

(As a noun: comb-over) A hairstyle in which hair is grown long on one side and combed over the top of the head.

"His comb-over was no longer fooling anyone — it was clearly time to embrace the baldness."

Usage notes

Very commonly used as a noun ('a comb-over') to describe the hairstyle. As a verb, it appears in both literal and humorous contexts. The noun 'comb-over' is hyphenated. Widely understood in all varieties of English.

Commonly used with

bald patch thinning hair side top baldness

Forms

Base
comb over
I/you/we/they
3rd person
combs over
he/she/it
Past simple
combed over
yesterday
Past participle
combed over
have + pp
-ing form
combing over
continuous

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