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”; see also tong

Explanation

A shingle is a thin piece of wood used in making a roof or a signboard outside an office, especially a doctor’s or lawyer's. If you’re opening a business, hang your shingle outside so people can find you. One kind of shingle is a rectangular piece of wood or other material used to make a roof. The other is a type of small sign outside an office that shows someone is ready to see clients, patients, or other types of customers. The word shingle is from the Latin scindere for "to split,” as in splitting wood, and whatever you do with a shingle, it’s a small flat hunk of wood.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shingle shingled shingling

Its landscapes include grasslands, lagoons, heathland and vegetated shingle, which supports a range of creatures, flora and fauna - not just birds.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

We hung out an enormous “for sale” shingle and put just about everything on the market.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

For “Over Your Dead Body,” he teams with producer David Leitch, whose 87North shingle specializes in R-rated action-comedies like “Nobody” and “Violent Night.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026

In prison, he became devoted to working out; after his release, Mr. James hung out his shingle as a personal trainer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026

I should have stayed on the other beach, on the white shingle, and come home by the Happy Valley.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

At the bar, I built a fantastic $59 meal from the happy-hour menu: hamachi crudo shingled with plums, chicken curry, and truffled brie grilled cheese with mango jam.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025

When you imagine a typical American family home, you probably picture something like John Williamson and Sue Spaziani’s house, with its shingled roof and wraparound porch.

From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2024

The buildings and shingled cottages are bright pastel, the waterfront dotted with cafes and patio umbrellas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2023

The rice is spooned into the bottom of a baking dish, then sliced raw purple and yellow onions are shingled on top.

From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2022

Then back up the shore and to the south end of the island, where shingled one-and two-room houses clamped themselves to the rocks like oysters, glad to be there and not needing anyone’s say-so.

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt

For presentation, gingerly prop the tofu against the pork, shingling it out slightly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026

Back east on Cape Cod, where once upon a time my shingling trade migrated, the occasional red cedar roof comes along in the wealthiest of ocean-view neighborhoods.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024

Top each with two thin slices of ham and the cucumbers, shingling the cucumbers neatly on top of each sandwich.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 13, 2022

Using shingling, we transformed the text of articles in both datasets into a list of tokens, and then turned the list of tokens into a list of n-token sequences called “shingles.”

From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 1458

He heard horses’ hoofs plodding on the road and far-off pounding on wood where a neighbor was shingling a barn.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

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