cinder

[ sin-der ]
See synonyms for: cindercinders on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a partially or mostly burned piece of coal, wood, etc.

  2. cinders,

    • any residue of combustion; ashes.

    • Geology. coarse scoriae erupted by volcanoes.

  1. a live, flameless coal; ember.

  2. Metallurgy.

verb (used with object)
  1. to spread cinders on: The highway department salted and cindered the icy roads.

  2. Archaic. to reduce to cinders.

verb (used without object)
  1. to spread cinders on a surface, as a road or sidewalk:My neighbor began cindering as soon as the first snowflake fell.

Origin of cinder

1
before 900; Middle English synder,Old English sinder slag; cognate with German Sinter,Old Norse sindr; c- (for s-) <French cendre ashes

Other words from cinder

  • cin·der·y, cin·der·ous, adjective
  • cin·der·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cinder in a sentence

  • I was determined for this to happen, but his mother thwarted my efforts and had him burnt to cinders in the US instead.

    Sid Didn't Kill Nancy | Malcolm McLaren | February 4, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • I have had broken bricks and cinders put down for them to stand on, and thus lifted them out of the mud.

  • The cinders fell together with a crumbling sound, and a greyness crept into their glowing depths.

    With Edged Tools | Henry Seton Merriman
  • She was indeed browning the coffee with a vengeance; she was burning it black—fairly to cinders.

  • Red-hot cinders he highly relished, though in obtaining them he frequently singed off his moustaches.

  • The live cinders from the firebox went up the chimney all night, and fell in showers on deck.

    Over the Sliprails | Henry Lawson

British Dictionary definitions for cinder

cinder

/ (ˈsɪndə) /


noun
  1. a piece of incombustible material left after the combustion of coal, coke, etc; clinker

  2. a piece of charred material that burns without flames; ember

  1. Also called: sinter any solid waste from smelting or refining

  2. (plural) fragments of volcanic lava; scoriae

verb
  1. (tr) rare to burn to cinders

Origin of cinder

1
Old English sinder; related to Old Norse sindr, Old High German sintar, Old Slavonic sedra stalactite

Derived forms of cinder

  • cindery, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with cinder

cinder

see burned to a cinder.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.