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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

Authorities evacuated more than 500 people last year after Fuego spewed gas and ash, with residents moved to shelters from communities near the crater.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

When she woke up that Friday morning, ash was falling like snow, and pieces of burning wood were falling from the sky.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

“They had pieces of my studio fused to them. Iron, glass. … Literally anything around it that melted and could not turn to ash got stuck to them,” Bayouth said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

"By Sunday evening everything had really begun to empty out," a holidaymaker from Essex told the BBC, adding that the air was "really smoky" with bits of ash.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

“This far out,” Buzz said, “the ash was fluffy, and every step stirred it up. So we wouldn’t breathe in so much, we walked a hundred feet apart—I leading, the kids, then Dan.”

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

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, ASH chief executive, said while it welcomed the government's actions, the PM's proposals were just "baby steps" when it comes to tackling the issue.

From BBC ● May 29, 2023

This year's ASH meeting saw a large increase in studies focused on health equity and health outcomes in vulnerable populations, organizers said.

From Reuters ● Dec. 13, 2022

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

ASH, varieties of the. -weeping. -simple-leaved. -bud-variation in. -effects of graft upon the stock in the. -production of the blotched Breadalbane. -weeping, capricious reproduction of, by seed.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication — Volume 2 by Darwin, Charles

Related Words

• drab
• dusty
• silvery