shingle

¹ American  

[shing-guhl] / ˈʃɪŋ gəl /

noun

1. a thin piece of wood, slate, metal, asbestos, or the like, usually oblong, laid in overlapping rows to cover the roofs and walls of buildings.

2. a woman's close-cropped haircut.

3. Informal.  a small signboard, especially as hung before a doctor's or lawyer's office.

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verb (used with object)

shingled, shingling

1. to cover with shingles, as a roof.

2. to cut (hair) close to the head.

idioms

1. hang out one's shingle,  to establish a professional practice, especially in law or medicine; open an office.

2. have / be a shingle short,  to be mentally disturbed, mad, or eccentric.

shingle ² American  

[shing-guhl] / ˈʃɪŋ gəl /

noun

1. small, waterworn stones or pebbles such as lie in loose sheets or beds on a beach.

2. a beach, riverbank, or other area covered with such small pebbles or stones.

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shingle ³ American  

[shing-guhl] / ˈʃɪŋ gəl /

verb (used with object)

Metalworking.

shingled, shingling

1. to hammer or squeeze (puddled iron) into a bloom or billet, eliminating as much slag as possible; knobble.

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shingle ¹ British  

/ ˈʃɪŋɡəl /

noun

1. a thin rectangular tile, esp one made of wood, that is laid with others in overlapping rows to cover a roof or a wall

2. a woman's short-cropped hairstyle

3. a small signboard or nameplate fixed outside the office of a doctor, lawyer, etc

4. informal  unintelligent or mentally subnormal

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verb

1. to cover (a roof or a wall) with shingles

2. to cut (the hair) in a short-cropped style

shingle ² British  

/ ˈʃɪŋɡəl /

noun

1. coarse gravel, esp the pebbles found on beaches

2. a place or area strewn with shingle

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shingle ³ British  

/ ˈʃɪŋɡəl /

verb

1. (tr) metallurgy to hammer or squeeze the slag out of (iron) after puddling in the production of wrought iron

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shingle More Idioms  

1. see hang out one's shingle.

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Other Word Forms

• shingler noun
• shingly adjective

Etymology

Origin of shingle¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English scincle, sc(h)ingle, shyngle, ultimately from Latin scindula, variant of scandula “lath, shingle” ( Middle English -g- is unexplained); Latin scindula is due perhaps to association with Greek schíza, schídax “piece of split wood, splinter”

Origin of shingle²

First recorded in 1530–40; apparently variant of earlier chingle; further origin uncertain; but compare North Frisian singel “gravel,” Norwegian singel “small stones”

Origin of shingle³

First recorded in 1665–75; from French cingler “to whip, beat,” from German zängeln “to shingle,” derivative of Zange “pincers, pliers”; tong

Example Sentences

There’s even data showing that getting a shingles vaccine can lower the risk of vascular dementia.

From MarketWatch

RHS is when a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near someone's ears, resulting in paralysis of parts of the face as well as blisters in the ears and on the roof of the mouth.

From BBC

He also continued to invest under a new shingle, giving credence to the nickname he assigned himself: Mr. Lee went by Tomcat, he said at a 2014 event, because he had “nine different lives.”

From New York Times

A rented wooden vacation cottage shudders in the gusts, and the woodpecker scarers attached to the shingles thwack like machine guns.

From Washington Post

As Kinsey grew older, he stopped going up mountains and into the woods, though he continued to photograph in lumber yards, shingle mills, rail yards and other places safer and easier to access.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• affidavit
• authentication
• authorization
• certification
• coupon
• credential
• deed
• diploma
• documentation
• guarantee
• license
• paper
• permit
• receipt
• ticket
• voucher
• warrant
• warranty