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• ash
  ash

  noun

  the powdery residue of matter that remains after burning.
• ASH
  ASH

  acronym

  Action on Smoking and Health

ash

¹ American  

[ash] / æʃ /

noun

1. the powdery residue of matter that remains after burning.

2. Also called volcanic ash.  Geology. finely pulverized lava thrown out by a volcano in eruption.

3. a light, silvery-gray color.

4. ashes,

   1. deathlike grayness; extreme pallor suggestive of death.

   2. ruins, especially the residue of something destroyed; remains; vestiges.

      the ashes of their love;

      the ashes of the past.

   3. mortal remains, especially the physical or corporeal body as liable to decay.

   4. anything, as an act, gesture, speech, or feeling, that is symbolic of penance, regret, remorse, or the like.

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ash ² American  

[ash] / æʃ /

noun

1. any of various trees of the genus Fraxinus, of the olive family, especially F. excelsior, of Europe and Asia, or F. americana white ash, of North America, having opposite, pinnate leaves and purplish flowers in small clusters.

2. the tough, straight-grained wood of any of these trees, valued as timber.

3. Also æsc the symbol “æ.”

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ash ¹ British  

/ æʃ /

noun

1. the nonvolatile products and residue formed when matter is burnt

2. any of certain compounds formed by burning See soda ash

3. fine particles of lava thrown out by an erupting volcano

4. a light silvery grey colour, often with a brownish tinge

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ash ² British  

/ æʃ /

noun

1. any oleaceous tree of the genus Fraxinus, esp F. excelsior of Europe and Asia, having compound leaves, clusters of small greenish flowers, and winged seeds

2. the close-grained durable wood of any of these trees, used for tool handles, etc

3. any of several trees resembling the ash, such as the mountain ash

4. any of several Australian trees resembling the ash, esp of the eucalyptus genus

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ASH ³ British  

/ æʃ /

acronym

1. Action on Smoking and Health

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ash ⁴ British  

/ æʃ /

noun

1. the digraph æ , as in Old English, representing a front vowel approximately like that of the a in Modern English hat. The character is also used to represent this sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet

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Other Word Forms

• ashiness
  noun
• ashless
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ash¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English a(i)sshe, Old English asce, æsce; cognate with Frisian esk, Dutch asch, Old Norse, Old High German aska ( German Asche ), Gothic azgo, from unattested Germanic askōn- (with Gothic form unexplained); akin to Latin ārēre “to be dry” ( see arid) and āra “altar,” Oscan aasaí “on the altar,” Tocharian ās- “to get dry,” Sanskrit ā́sa- “ashes,” Hittite hassi “on the hearth”; from Proto-Indo-European root as- “to burn, glow” (unattested)

Origin of ash²

First recorded before 900; Middle English asshe, Old English æsc; cognate with Frisian esk, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch asch, Old Saxon, Old High German asc ( German Esche, with altered vowel from the adjective derivative eschen, Middle High German eschîn ), Old Norse askr; akin to Latin ornus, Welsh onnen, Russian yáseń, Polish jesion, Czech jasan, Lithuanian úosis, Armenian hatsʰi; Albanian ah “beech,” from Proto-Indo-European ōs, os “ash (tree)” (unattested)

Explanation

Ash is what's left after something has been burned by a fire. You need to clean the ash out of a wood stove or fireplace every once in a while. After you burn wood in a fire pit or in a bonfire on the beach, there's ash left behind. Cigarette or cigar ash is what smokers tap off the end every so often — the burned part of the cigarette becomes ash. If you use the idiomatic phrase "it turned to ashes in my mouth," you mean that something was a huge disappointment or letdown.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ash ASH

On Wednesday, she stopped by the site of the fire and saw it had been reduced to ash and rubble.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

On a particularly tense drive, they are chased by scorching, wind-fueled wildfires and volcanic ash spewing from Mount Etna.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Alder and ash pollen indicated vegetation associated with riverbanks and seashores, which occur along the coast and in the nearby hinterland.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

"When we see something very red in the universe, we often assume that it is surrounded by dust, like soot or ash," said Robert Simcoe, a study co-author from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Her face was as grey as the ash I could see swirling in the air.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

Studies presented at ASH showed that starting the CAR-T treatment earlier in a patient’s disease External link led to even better outcomes.

From Barron's ● Dec. 9, 2025

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of UK health charity ASH, said that smoking costs public finances nearly double tobacco tax revenues.

From Reuters ● Nov. 27, 2023

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of health charity ASH, said swift action was needed to reverse this worrying trend.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2021

At the ASH meeting, Thompson will give an update on about two dozen sickle cell disease patients who received the treatment within the past 3 years.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 5, 2020

SPALDING'S TRADE-MARKED ASH BAT, made on four           different models; finished with three coats of           best shellac, and lathe polished.

From Spalding's Baseball Guide and Official League Book for 1889 by Henry Chadwick

Related Words

• drab
• dusty
• silvery