ruins or remains, as after destruction or burning
the city was left in ashes
the remains of a human body after cremation
from the mock obituary of English cricket in The Times in 1882 after a great Australian victory at the Oval, in which it was said that the body would be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Before leading England into the 2005 Ashes, captain Michael Vaughan decided he needed a clean slate to take on Australia because of the baggage carried from previous defeats.
From BBC • Jul. 5, 2026
They dropped five catches and were dumped out, and they were not much better in their dismal 2024-25 Ashes series.
From BBC • Jul. 2, 2026
Joe Root is the only active England Test player to know what it is like to win an Ashes series, the sole survivor of the school of former coach Andy Flower.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026
Unlike the others, Stokes never produced a defining Ashes series - his performances against Australia came in isolation - but he was a better captain than Botham and Flintoff.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026
Ashes to ashes, we say at the grave site with each handful of dirt we drop gently onto his lowering casket.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
