[shin.gle] n [ME schingel] (13c) 1: a small thin piece of building material often with one end thicker than the other for laying in overlapping rows as a covering for the roof or sides of a building
2: a small signboard esp. designating a professional office--used chiefly in the phrase hang out one's shingle
3: a woman's haircut with the hair trimmed short from the back of the head to the nape
[2]shingle vt shin.gled ; shin.gling (1562) 1: to cover with or as if with shingles
2: to bob and shape (the hair) in a shingle
3: to lay out or arrange so as to overlap -- shin.gler n [3]shingle n [prob. of Scand origin; akin to Norw singel coarse gravel] (15c) 1: coarse rounded detritus or alluvial material esp. on the seashore that differs from ordinary gravel only in the larger size of the stones
2: a place strewn with shingle -- shin.gly adj