From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Singe \Singe\ (s[i^]nj), verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Singed} (s[i^]njd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Singeing} (s[i^]nj"[i^]ng).] [OE. sengen, AS. sengan in besengan (akin to D. zengen, G. sengen), originally, to cause to sing, fr. AS. singan to sing, in allusion to the singing or hissing sound often produced when a substance is singed, or slightly burned. See {Sing}.]
1. To burn slightly or superficially; to burn the surface of; to burn the ends or outside of; as, to singe the hair or the skin.
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, . . . Singe my white head! --Shak.
I singed the toes of an ape through a burning glass. --L'Estrange.
2. (a) To remove the nap of (cloth), by passing it rapidly over a red-hot bar, or over a flame, preliminary to dyeing it. (b) To remove the hair or down from (a plucked chicken or the like) by passing it over a flame.
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Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
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