backcomb

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See also: back-comb

English

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Backcombed mohawk
Backcombs (sense 2)

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From back +‎ comb.

Verb

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backcomb (third-person singular simple present backcombs, present participle backcombing, simple past and past participle backcombed)

  1. To hold hair and comb it towards the head, thus giving it a bushier look.
    Synonym: tease

Translations

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Noun

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backcomb (plural backcombs)

  1. The hairstyle produced by backcombing.
    • 2012, “Sex”, performed by The 1975:
      You and your fit friends anyway / I'd take them all out any day / They all got backcombs anyway
  2. (dated) A decorative comb worn as an ornament and to secure a hairstyle.
    • 1876, Lex, Remarkable Criminal Trials in Bengal:
      There was a part of a bottle of liquor on the table—the furniture of the hall was disarranged—a pair of slippers, two small combs, and a backcomb were lying near an easy chair.
    • 1912, The Canadian Patent Office Record and Register of Copyrights and Trade Marks, volume 39, issues 1-6, page 252:
      A backcomb comprising a pair of oppositely disposed members of sheet material each provided with teeth along one margin, a pivot pin securing the members at one end in overlapping relation.
    • 1920, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, The Lost Girl, London: Martin Secker [], →OCLC:
      Her father had produced a pink crêpe de Chine blouse and a backcomb massed with brilliants—both of which she refused to wear.