Comb

From ArticleWorld

A comb is a solid device that is used to straighten or clean hair and a variety of other fibers.

History

The English word is rooted in Indo-European, where it meant “tooth,” “toothed,” or “to bite.” It can be found in ancient Sanskrit and Greek.

Combs and similar, older, tools have been identified in very developed forms from settlements as far as 5,000 years ago in Persia. This most likely occurred during the first major Indo-European migrations.

It is believed that the use of combs may have given their users an evolutionary advantage since they helped the users by fighting parasites. There are no known traditional civilizations that ignore or avoid the use of combs.

Other uses of the word

In English, the word comb is also used in other senses, including the fleshy crest on the head of many birds, the ridge that is found on the top of many helmets, a sharp spike or dip in a signal, the semi-flexible structures that filter water in filter feeding baleen whales.

Other uses of the object

A comb isn’t just used for cleaning and styling. It can also be used to keep long hair in place or as a decoration of the hair. It can keep a kippa in place or separate cotton fibers from seeds and debris (the cotton gin, in fact, is a mechanical version of a comb), making music (the kazoo, for example) or annoying people by using it to make loud noise.

Combs are also used by investigators to collect hair or skin samples that they can use in order to determine a person’s identity.