Singe
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A burning of the surface; a slight burn.
- 2 a surface burn wordnet
- 1 To burn slightly. transitive
"made combustible by Flame They treat of, we have pretty Game, For they their own Tail Singe, to save Us"
- 2 Obsolete form of sing. alt-of, obsolete
"Then ſange Iudith this ſonge vnto the LORDE: Begynne vnto the LORDE vpon the tabrettes, ſinge vnto the LORDE vpon the cymbals."
- 3 burn superficially or lightly wordnet
- 4 To remove the nap of (cloth), by passing it rapidly over a red-hot bar, or over a flame, preliminary to dyeing it. transitive
- 5 become superficially burned wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To remove the hair or down from (a plucked chicken, etc.) by passing it over a flame. transitive
Example
More examples"If you run through a crowd with the torch of truth you will singe a few beards."
Etymology
From Middle English sengen, from Old English senġan, sænċġan (“to singe, burn slightly, scorch, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *sangijan (“to burn, torch”), from Proto-Indo-European *senk- (“to burn”). Cognate with West Frisian singe, sinzje (“to singe”), Saterland Frisian soange (“to singe”), Dutch zengen (“to singe, scorch”), German Low German sengen (“to singe”), German sengen (“to singe, scorch”), Icelandic sangur (“singed, burnt, scorched”).
Related phrases
More for "singe"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.