shingle

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
shingle1

▶noun a mass of small rounded pebbles, especially on a seashore.

– derivatives
shingly adjective.

– origin ME: of unknown origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
shingle2

▶noun

• 1 a rectangular wooden tile used on walls or roofs.

• 2 dated a woman's short haircut, tapering from the back of the head to the nape of the neck.

• 3 N. Amer. a small signboard, especially one outside an office.

▶verb

• 1 cover with shingles.

• 2 dated cut (hair) in a shingle.

– phrases
hang out one's shingle N. Amer. begin to practise a profession.

– origin ME: appar. from L. scindula, earlier scandula ‘a split piece of wood’.