The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Singe \Singe\ (s[i^]nj), v. t. [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.
      [1913 Webster]

            You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, . . .
            Singe my white head!                  --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            I singed the toes of an ape through a burning glass.
                                                  --L'Estrange.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
          [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Singe \Singe\, n.
   A burning of the surface; a slight burn.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

singe
    n 1: a surface burn [syn: scorch, singe]
    v 1: burn superficially or lightly; "I singed my eyebrows" [syn:
         singe, swinge]
    2: become superficially burned; "my eyebrows singed when I bent
       over the flames" [syn: scorch, sear, singe]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

56 Moby Thesaurus words for "singe":
   attaint, bedaub, besmear, besmirch, besmoke, bestain, blacken,
   blaze, blister, blur, brand, burn, burn in, burn off, cast,
   cauterize, char, coal, crack, cupel, darken, daub, dirty, discolor,
   flame, found, mark, mat burn, oxidate, oxidize, parch, pyrolyze,
   scald, scorch, sear, second-degree burn, slubber, slur, smear,
   smirch, smoke, soil, solder, stain, stigmatize, sunburn, sunscald,
   swinge, taint, tarnish, third-degree burn, torrefy, vesicate,
   vulcanize, weld, windburn