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2 N‑COUNT A column is something that has a tall narrow shape. □ [+ of ] The explosion sent a column of smoke thousands of feet into the air.

3 N‑COUNT A column is a group of people or animals which moves in a long line. □ [+ of ] There were reports of columns of military vehicles appearing on the streets.

4 N‑COUNT On a printed page such as a page of a dictionary, newspaper, or printed chart, a column is one of two or more vertical sections which are read downwards. □ [+ of ] We had stupidly been looking at the wrong column of figures.

5 N‑COUNT In a newspaper or magazine, a column is a section that is always written by the same person or is always about the same topic. □ [+ for ] She also writes a regular column for the Times Educational Supplement.

6 → see also agony column , gossip column , personal column , spinal column , steering column

col|umn|ist /kɒ ləm I st/ (columnists ) N‑COUNT A columnist is a journalist who regularly writes a particular kind of article in a newspaper or magazine. □ [+ for ] Clarence Page is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

coma /koʊ mə/ (comas ) N‑COUNT [usu in/into N ] Someone who is in a coma is in a state of deep unconsciousness. □  She was in a coma for seven weeks.

co|ma|tose /koʊ mətoʊs/

1 ADJ A person who is comatose is in a coma. [MEDICAL ] □  The right side of my brain had been so severely bruised that I was comatose for a month.

2 ADJ [oft ADJ after v] A person who is comatose is in a deep sleep, usually because they are tired or have drunk too much alcohol. [INFORMAL ] □  Grandpa lies comatose on the sofa.

comb /koʊ m/ (combs , combing , combed )

1 N‑COUNT A comb is a flat piece of plastic or metal with narrow pointed teeth along one side, which you use to tidy your hair.

2 VERB When you comb your hair, you tidy it using a comb. □ [V n] Salvatore combed his hair carefully. □ [V -ed] Her reddish hair was cut short and neatly combed.

3 VERB If you comb a place, you search everywhere in it in order to find someone or something. □ [V n + for ] Officers combed the woods for the murder weapon. □ [V n] They fanned out and carefully combed the temple grounds.

4 VERB If you comb through information, you look at it very carefully in order to find something. □ [V + through ] Eight police officers then spent two years combing through the evidence.

5 → see also fine-tooth comb

com|bat ◆◇◇ (combats , combating or combatting , combated or combatted ) The noun is pronounced /kɒ mbæt/. The verb is pronounced /kəmbæ t/. 1 N‑UNCOUNT Combat is fighting that takes place in a war. □  Over 16 million men had died in combat. □  Yesterday saw hand-to-hand combat in the city. □  …combat aircraft.

2 N‑COUNT A combat is a battle, or a fight between two people. □  It was the end of a long combat.

3 VERB If people in authority combat something, they try to stop it happening. □ [V n] Congress has criticised new government measures to combat crime. SYNONYMS combat NOUN 1

fighting:More than nine hundred people have died in the fighting.

war:He spent part of the war in the National Guard.

battle:…after a gun battle between police and drug traffickers.

action:13 soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in action.

conflict:…talks aimed at ending four decades of conflict. COLLOCATIONS combat NOUN

1

adjective + combat : gladiatorial, hand-to-hand, mortal, unarmed; aerial, frontline

2

adjective + combat : ferocious, long VERB 3

combat+ noun : crime, extremism, fraud, terrorism; disease, obesity