ashes
plural noun
ruins or remains, as after destruction or burning
ashes
1 British
/ ˈæʃɪz /
plural noun
-
ruins or remains, as after destruction or burning
the city was left in ashes
-
the remains of a human body after cremation
Ashes
2
British
/ ˈæʃɪz /
plural noun
Etymology
Origin of Ashes
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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In “Roughing It,” Mark Twain describes his visit to the lake, where he found “nothing but solitude, ashes, and heartbreaking silence.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Add to this one that emerges from a different patrimony: the rise of Notre-Dame Cathedral from the ashes of a devastating fire, exactly as the people wanted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Then one day last October, as he and his siblings were at a funeral home choosing an urn for their father’s ashes, Stafford, 49, got an unexpected message.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
Emma keeps Mabel's ashes next to a photograph of her tiny feet but she wanted a special place to feel close to her.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The first day, Ma cleaned and brushed all the ashes out of the cookstove.
From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Much later, Bowie would draw on the imagery, dressing as the character of Harlequin in the video Ashes to Ashes.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
England will need to locate a weakness by the time the Ashes begins.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Prior the first match, McDermott recounted Australia prop Tino Fa'asuamaleaui's admiration for the strength of the English pack during last year's Ashes series.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
It is 11 months since knives were sharpening after four sessions of last winter's Ashes series.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
Ashes drifted into the hollow places in my bones and silted up my brainpan.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
