Definition

1. Noun:

   • A small, thin, flat piece of wood or other material: Used in overlapping rows to cover roofs or walls.
   • Coarse gravel: Consisting of small, smooth, water-worn stones, found especially on a beach.
   • A small signboard: Traditionally hung outside the office of a professional such as a doctor or lawyer.

2. Verb:

   • To cover a surface with shingles: To apply thin, overlapping pieces of material to a roof or wall.
   • To cut hair short in a tapered style: (Archaic or specialized use) To cut hair so it is very short at the back and sides.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Roofing Material):

  • The old cottage had a roof made of wooden shingles.
  • We need to replace the cracked asphalt shingles on our house.

• Noun (Beach Gravel):

  • The beach was not sandy but covered in smooth, grey shingle.
  • The sound of the waves on the shingle was very peaceful.

• Noun (Signboard):

  • The lawyer just hung out her shingle last month.
  • His name was painted on a brass shingle by the door.

• Verb (To cover):

  • They decided to shingle the entire roof.
  • The side of the house was shingled with cedar.

• Verb (To cut hair):

  • The barber shingled the back of his neck neatly. (This usage is now rare.)

Advanced Usage

• "To hang out one's shingle": An idiom meaning to start one's own professional practice, especially in law or medicine.

  • After passing the bar exam, she hung out her shingle in a small town.

• "Shingle beach": A specific term for a beach covered with pebbles rather than sand.

  • We walked along the famous shingle beach at Brighton.

Variants and Related Words

• Shingling (n): The action or process of applying shingles.

  • The shingling of the roof will take three days.

• Shingled (adj): Describing something covered with shingles.

  • They lived in a beautifully shingled cabin.

• Shingles (n): A painful viral infection causing a skin rash. (Note: This is a different, unrelated word, but a common homophone).

  • He was diagnosed with shingles and prescribed medication.

Synonyms

• Noun (Roofing): Tile, slate, shake (a type of wooden shingle).
• Noun (Gravel): Pebbles, stones, grit.
• Verb (To cover): Tile, clad, overlay.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Phrases

• Shingle over: To cover something completely with shingles.
  • They shingled over the old roof instead of removing it.

Related Idioms

• "To have a shingle short": (Informal, dated) To be slightly crazy or eccentric.
  • Some thought the old inventor had a shingle short, but he was a genius.

Noun

1. a small signboard outside the office of a lawyer or doctor, e.g.
2. coarse beach gravel of small waterworn stones and pebbles (or a stretch of shore covered with such gravel)
3. building material used as siding or roofing

Verb

1. cover with shingles
   • shingle a roof