cinder

[ sin-der ]

/ ˈsɪn dər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cinder ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

cinders,

any residue of combustion; ashes.
Geology. coarse scoriae erupted by volcanoes.

a live, flameless coal; ember.

Metallurgy.

slag¹(def 1).
a mixture of ashes and slag.

verb (used with object)

to spread cinders on: The highway department salted and cindered the icy roads.

Archaic. to reduce to cinders.

verb (used without object)

to spread cinders on a surface, as a road or sidewalk: My neighbor began cindering as soon as the first snowflake fell.

RELATED WORDS

ember, soot, clinker

Nearby words

cinchonize, cincinnati, cincinnatus, cinco de mayo, cincture, cinder, cinder block, cinder concrete, cinder cone, cinder patch, cinder track

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

Related formscin·der·y, cin·der·ous, adjectivecin·der·like, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for cinders

I was determined for this to happen, but his mother thwarted my efforts and had him burnt to cinders in the US instead.
Sid Didn't Kill Nancy|Malcolm McLaren|February 4, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Then, tons of cinders had been dumped into the Cinder Pond and into the lake, on either side of the wharf; filling in the corners.
The Cinder Pond|Carroll Watson Rankin
The horses pounded the hollow earth; the logs broke and fell upon the cinders; one of the men talked in his sleep.
On Canada's Frontier|Julian Ralph
I was nearly buried under the cinders, but Brodsky ran for some men, who dug me out.
The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills|James R. Mears

Dust and cinders pour in at doors and windows with the hot air.
Gulf and Glacier|Willis Boyd Allen
This daring scheme was faithfully performed, and by night we had nearly half a waste-paper basket of coal, coke, and cinders.
New Treasure Seekers|E. (Edith) Nesbit

British Dictionary definitions for cinders

cinder

/ (ˈsɪndə) /

noun

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

a piece of charred material that burns without flames; ember

Also called: sinter any solid waste from smelting or refining

(plural) fragments of volcanic lava; scoriae

verb

(tr) rare to burn to cinders

Derived Formscindery, adjective

Word Origin for cinder

Old English sinder; related to Old Norse sindr, Old High German sintar, Old Slavonic sedra stalactite

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 cinders

cinder

Old English sinder "dross of iron, slag," from Proto-Germanic *sendra- "slag" (cf. Old Saxon sinder "slag, dross," Old Norse sindr, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch sinder, Dutch sintel, Old High German sintar, German Sinter), from PIE root *sendhro- "coagulating fluid" (cf. Old Church Slavonic sedra "cinder").

Initial s- changed to c- under influence of unrelated French cendre "ashes," from Latin cinerem (nominative cinis) "ashes," from or related to Greek konis "dust" (see incinerate). The French word also apparently shifted the sense of the English one to "small piece of burnt coal" (16c.). Volcanic cinder cone is recorded from 1849.

Idioms and Phrases with cinders

cinder

see burned to a cinder.