Dictionary

comb test en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A test for whether a substance should be considered a male sex hormone.
   • In addition to the comb test, physiologists applied assays based on changes in fat deposits, body length and weight, and hair growth, in rats and guinea-pigs. 1994, Nelly Oudshoorn, Beyond the Natural Body: An Archeology of Sex Hormones, e-book edition, Routledge, published 2005, →ISBN, page 48:
2. (historical) A method of determining racial identity, based on how easily a comb passes through a person's hair.
   • "How'd your in-laws feel about you marryin' your wife? Maybe you could pass the paper bag test and the comb test, but your old man had dark skin, kinky hair, and he was a dyed-in-wool bapistst from out in the sticks." 2002 February, Don Spears, Playing for Keeps, Los Angeles: Milligan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 183:

Forms

Relateds

pencil test

Synonyms

cock's comb test · fine-tooth comb test