ashtray

[ash-trey]

noun

a receptacle for tobacco ashes of smokers.

Nearby words

Origin of ashtray

First recorded in 1885–90; ash¹ + tray¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ashtray

On the desk, an ashtray is filled with 23-year-old cigarette butts and a gas mask.
The KGB Welcomes You to Estonia’s Hotel Viru. Please Mind the Hidden Bugs|Nina Strochlic|July 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A glass of vodka sat next to the ashtray on his night table.
Almost Famous: A Father's Day Story|Alex Belth|June 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Dice cracks a window so he can chain-smoke Marlboro Lights, using a glass of water as an ashtray.
Andrew Dice Clay on ‘Blue Jasmine,’ His Alleged Misogyny, and More|Marlow Stern|July 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Ten thousand; two in the front, two in the back, the rest in the ashtray.
Can the Holocaust be Funny?|Tom Doran|April 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST

He promptly offered an explanation for that slam and for his dismissal of Vice President Biden as “dumb as an ashtray.”
Roger Ailes Couldn’t Care Less What You Think About His Obama Comments|Howard Kurtz|March 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Dillon carefully put the ash from his cigarette into an ashtray.
The Invaders|William Fitzgerald Jenkins
I fired a lift at an ashtray on the table beside him, and it sailed in an arc toward the kitchen and crashed against the wall.
Modus Vivendi|Gordon Randall Garrett
He put his pipe in an ashtray and held up a long, bony finger.
Anything You Can Do ...|Gordon Randall Garrett
Boyd looked for an ashtray, failed again to find one, and walked over to flip a second cigarette out onto Washington.
Occasion for Disaster|Gordon Randall Garrett
Link picked at the label of his beer bottle and added to the dandruff of shredded paper in the ashtray before him.
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town|Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for ashtray

ashtray

noun

a receptacle for tobacco ash, cigarette butts, etc

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

Word Origin and History for ashtray

ashtray

1857 as a receptacle for smokers' ashes, from ash (n.1) + tray.