🗓️ Idiom: Go Through Something With a Fine-Tooth Comb (verb)
💬 Meaning
- To examine something very carefully and in detail.
- To check all parts of a document, plan, or process to find small problems.
🧠 Example Sentences
- The audit team went through the contract with a fine-tooth comb to find any hidden fees.
- Before the launch, the developer went through the code with a fine-tooth comb to remove bugs.
- The manager asked us to go through the report with a fine-tooth comb before sending it to the client.
🏛️ Origin
The phrase comes from the idea of using a comb with very close teeth to remove tiny particles. People began to use it as a picture for checking things carefully, looking for small problems or mistakes.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Before publishing the results, the team decided to ________ to make sure there were no errors.
Answer
go through the report with a fine-tooth comb
2. Choose the correct answer:
What does “go through something with a fine-tooth comb” mean?
a) Look quickly without details
b) Check carefully and in detail
c) Ignore small problems
Answer
b) Check carefully and in detail
3. Change the sentence using “go through something with a fine-tooth comb”:
“The editor checked the article very carefully to find mistakes.”
Answer
The editor went through the article with a fine-tooth comb.
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
