ashes

¹

/ ˈæʃɪz /

plural noun

1. ruins or remains, as after destruction or burning

   the city was left in ashes

2. the remains of a human body after cremation

Ashes

²

/ ˈæʃɪz /

plural noun

1. a cremated cricket stump in a pottery urn now preserved at Lord's. Victory or defeat in test matches between England and Australia is referred to as winning, losing, or retaining the Ashes

Word History and Origins

Origin of ashes¹

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

Mogadishu is rising, literally, from the ashes of decades of war.

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Three people have been arrested and charged in an investigation into missing ashes at a funeral directors.

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“But answering letters is far less unpleasant than picking lentils out of ashes, so I shall do my best and try to be cheerful about it.”

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Sporting Times journalist Reginald Shirley Brooks wrote a satirical article stating that English cricket had died and "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia".

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If Gaza ever rises from the ashes, he doesn't expect to be around to see it.

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