wool carding

An early proce in woolen manufacture for disentangling or tearing apart the tu ocks of wool, and laying the fibers parallel, preparatory to spinning. It is only the short staple wools that are submitted to this operation, the long staple wools being combed. wool-comber, subst. One whose occupation is to comb wool. "Half a dozen wool - combers , perhaps, are nece ary to keep a you sand spinners and weavers at work."- Smith : Wealth of Nations , bk. i., ch. x.