Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Singe

Singe (sinj) , transitive verb

[Old English sengen, Anglo-Saxon sengan in besengan (akin to Dutch zengen, German sengen), originally, to cause to sing, from Anglo-Saxon 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! — Shakespeare
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.

Singe , noun

A burning of the surface; a slight burn.