cinder

American  

[sin-der] / ˈsɪn dər /

noun

1. a partially or mostly burned piece of coal, wood, etc.

2. cinders,

   1. any residue of combustion; ashes.

   2. Geology. coarse scoriae erupted by volcanoes.

3. a live, flameless coal; ember.

4. Metallurgy.

   1. slag.

   2. a mixture of ashes and slag.

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verb (used with object)

1. to spread cinders on.

   The highway department salted and cindered the icy roads.

2. Archaic. to reduce to cinders.

verb (used without object)

1. to spread cinders on a surface, as a road or sidewalk.

   My neighbor began cindering as soon as the first snowflake fell.

cinder British  

/ ˈsɪndə /

noun

1. a piece of incombustible material left after the combustion of coal, coke, etc; clinker

2. a piece of charred material that burns without flames; ember

3. Also called: sinter.  any solid waste from smelting or refining

4. (plural) fragments of volcanic lava; scoriae

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verb

1. rare (tr) to burn to cinders

cinder Idioms  

1. see burned to a cinder.

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Other Word Forms

• cinderlike adjective
• cinderous adjective
• cindery adjective

Etymology

Origin of cinder

before 900; Middle English synder, Old English sinder slag; cognate with German Sinter, Old Norse sindr; c- (for s- ) < French cendre ashes

Explanation

A cinder is a small, hot, glowing coal from a fire. When you put out a campfire, it's important to make sure that not one single cinder remains. It's easy to miss the fact that a cinder is still hot, since it remains that way long after every flame has been extinguished. When people clean out their wood stoves, they put the ashes in a metal bucket — rather than a flammable paper bag, for example — in case there are hot cinders hidden inside them. The word cinder comes from the Old English sinder, or "slag." The c comes from the otherwise unrelated French cendre, "ashes."

Example Sentences

Beneath moss-covered cinder blocks, dilapidated stone markers, and a handful of headstones, more than 200 children who died in state custody between the 1870s and 1930s are buried.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

He has stacked some cinder blocks to anchor iron rods for holding up a sheet, which is meant to serve as a roof.

From Barron's • Oct. 16, 2025

In key moments, Johnston’s hands seemed like they transformed into cinder blocks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025

Its compelling antihero, sixty-something Rhys Kinnick, has spent seven years in self-imposed exile, occupying a cinder block cabin in a remote region of Washington state.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2025

The roof over the garage was flat, and he set up the tent there, securing it with books and a few cinder blocks.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

Related Words

• ember
• soot