shin·gle 1 (sh?ng?g?l)n.1. A thin oblong piece of material, such as wood or slate, that is laid in overlapping rows to cover the roof or sides of a house or other building.2. Informal A small signboard, as one indicating a professional office: After passing the bar exam, she hung out her shingle.3. A woman’s close-cropped haircut.v.tr. shin·gled, shin·gling, shin·gles 1. To cover (a roof or building) with shingles.2. To cut (hair) short and close to the head.[Middle English, from Old English scindel, scingal, from Late Latin scindula, alteration of Latin scandula (influenced by scindere, to split).]shin?gler n.shin·gle 2 (sh?ng?g?l)n.1. Beach gravel consisting of large smooth pebbles.2. A stretch of shore or beach covered with such gravel.[Middle English.]shin?gly adj.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.shingle (??????l) n1. (Building) a thin rectangular tile, esp one made of wood, that is laid with others in overlapping rows to cover a roof or a wall2. (Hairdressing & Grooming) a woman’s short-cropped hairstyle3. US and Canadian a small signboard or nameplate fixed outside the office of a doctor, lawyer, etc4. a shingle short informal Austral unintelligent or mentally subnormalvb (tr) 5. (Building) to cover (a roof or a wall) with shingles6. (Hairdressing & Grooming) to cut (the hair) in a short-cropped style[C12 scingle, from Late Latin scindula a split piece of wood, from Latin scindere to split] ?shingler nshingle (??????l) n1. (Geological Science) coarse gravel, esp the pebbles found on beaches2. (Physical Geography) a place or area strewn with shingle[C16: of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian singl pebbles, Frisian singel gravel] ?shingly adjshingle (??????l) vb (Metallurgy) (tr) metallurgy to hammer or squeeze the slag out of (iron) after puddling in the production of wrought iron[C17: from Old French dialect chingler to whip, from chingle belt, from Latin cingula girdle; see cingulum]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014shin?gle1 (???? g?l) n., v. -gled, -gling. n. 1. a thin piece of wood, slate, metal, asbestos, or the like, usu. oblong, laid in overlapping rows to cover the roofs and walls of buildings. 2. a woman’s short hairstyle in which the hair is cropped close to the head from below the crown to the nape. 3. a small signboard, esp. as hung before a doctor’s or lawyer’s office. v.t. 4. to cover with shingles, as a roof. 5. to cut (hair) close to the head. Idioms: hang out one’s shingle, to establish a professional practice, esp. in law or medicine. [1150?1200;