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shingle2

Pronunciation: /ˈʃɪŋg(ə)l/

Translate shingle | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of shingle

noun

  • 1a rectangular wooden tile used on walls or roofs.
  • 2 dated a woman’s short haircut in which the hair tapers from the back of the head to the nape of the neck.
    [so named because of the layering]
  • 3North American a small signboard, especially one found outside a doctor’s or lawyer’s office.

verb

[with object]
  • 1roof or clad with shingles: (as adjective shingled)a tower surmounted by a shingled spire
  • 2 dated cut (a woman’s hair) in a shingle: women began to bob their hair immediately after the war and were shingling it by 1925

Phrases

hang out one's shingle

North American begin to practise a profession: a license to hang out their shingle as a financial adviser

Origin:

Middle English (as a noun): apparently from Latin scindula, earlier scandula 'a split piece of wood'

shingle in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of shingle in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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