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

Example Sentences

When he was about Theodore’s age, Read lost his grandmother in a fire and has long been haunted by the memory of walking through her house in cinders.

From Los Angeles Times

They listen to playlists while pulling carts loaded with cinder blocks: yacht rock for mornings, Jock Jam in the afternoon.

From The Wall Street Journal

It was later knocked down and in the demolition pictures, the way the cinder blocks were on the floor looked like a sculptural painting.

From Los Angeles Times

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

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

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• ember
• soot