Combe

A combe (/kuːm/; also spelled coombe or coomb and, in place names, comb) can refer either to a steep, narrow valley, or to a small valley or large hollow on the side of a hill;[1][2] in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through which a watercourse does not run.

[5] From Middle English coumbe, cumbe, from Old English cumb, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kumbaz; compare Dutch kom (“bowl, basin”), German Kump (“vessel”).

Related to Welsh cwm (“a hollow valley”), of identical meaning, through Proto-Indo-European *ḱumbʰ-.

[6] Today, the word is used mostly in reference to the combes of southern[7] and southwestern England.

The following is a list places in the British Isles named for having combes:

An example photograph of a Combe in Switzerland.
The "Combe de Dreveneuse" in Valais, Switzerland.