What does "shingle" mean?
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.
Shingle
noun, verb
noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: 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.
- Grammar: shingle is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: arch, arch over, asphalt, bank.
- Useful contrasts: sandy beach, thatches, uncovered roof.
- Usage evidence: The town had three lumber mills, four shingle mills, and a gristmill.
How to use "shingle"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "shingle" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "shingle" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "shingle" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "shingle" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "shingle" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "arch" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "shingle", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 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.
"I reached St. Asaph, a Bishop's See, where there is a very poor Cathedral Church, covered with Shingles or Tiles"
- 2 A punitive strap such as a belt.
- 3 Small, smooth pebbles, as found on a beach. countable, uncountable
"And naked shingles of the world."
- 4 a small signboard outside the office of a lawyer or doctor, e.g. wordnet
- 5 A rectangular piece of steel obtained by means of a shingling process involving hammering of puddled steel.
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 Any paddle used for corporal punishment. broadly
- 7 coarse beach gravel of small waterworn stones and pebbles (or a stretch of shore covered with such gravel) wordnet
- 8 A small signboard designating a professional office; this may be both a physical signboard or a metaphoric term for a small production company (a production shingle).
"He [...] hung a shingle as a barber."
- 9 building material used as siding or roofing wordnet
- 10 A word-based n-gram.
"In the second phase, we produce a list of all the shingles and the documents they appear in, sorted by shingle value."
Verb
- 1 To cover with small, thin pieces of building material, with shingles. transitive
- 2 To hammer and squeeze material in order to expel cinder and impurities from it, as in metallurgy. transitive
- 3 cover with shingles wordnet
- 4 To cut, as hair, so that the ends are evenly exposed all over the head, like shingles on a roof. transitive
- 5 To beat with a shingle. transitive
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To increase the storage density of (a hard disk) by writing tracks that partially overlap. transitive
Example
"The town had three lumber mills, four shingle mills, and a gristmill."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "shingle"?
Common synonyms include: arch, arch over, asphalt, bank, barber, beach.
How do you use "shingle" in a sentence?
The town had three lumber mills, four shingle mills, and a gristmill.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English shyngel, alteration of Old English sċindel, from Proto-West Germanic *skindulā, borrowed from Late Latin scindula, from Latin scandula, from Proto-Indo-European *sked- (“to split, scatter”), from *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of shindle.
Etymology 2
From dialectal French chingler (“to strap, whip”), from Latin cingula (“girt, belt”), from cingere (“to girt”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English shingel, chingel, singel (“gravel, pebbles”), cognate with Norwegian Bokmål singel (“pebble(s)”), Norwegian Nynorsk singel (“pebble(s)”), and North Frisian singel (“gravel”), imitative of the sound of water running over such pebbles.