ember
Americannoun
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embers
plural
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a small live piece of coal, wood, etc., as in a dying fire.
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embers, the smoldering remains of a fire.
noun
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a glowing or smouldering piece of coal or wood, as in a dying fire
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the fading remains of a past emotion
the embers of his love
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ember
before 1000; Middle English eemer, emeri, Old English ǣmerge, ǣmyrie (cognate with Old Norse eimyrja, Old High German eimuria ), equivalent to ǣm- (cognate with Old Norse eimr steam) + -erge, -yrie, akin to Old English ys ( e ) le ember, Latin ūrere to burn
Explanation
An ember is a little piece of wood or coal in a fire that's dying. Embers are hot and glowing. When the fire is out and the embers are glowing, it’s time to call it a night. Embers (usually plural) are smoldering pieces of wood or coal — usually very small — that burn brightly as a fire starts to fade. When you see embers, the fire isn’t finished yet, but it’s almost done. If you’re camping and you put out a fire, don’t leave it alone until the embers go out, too. People also use embers as a metaphor for other things that are starting to fade, like the last embers of a dying friendship.
Vocabulary lists containing ember
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Inferno Lingo: Fire Vocabulary
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Chains
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Marrone said he believed they should have taken the ember cast into account.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
India Today magazine called the film a "dead ember".
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2025
Some residents in Rainham believe an ember from the fires on Arnolds Field might have started that blaze.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2025
Orchard Hills homes are constructed with two factors in mind: radiant heat and ember intrusion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2025
His voice was honey, but his face was a glowing ember.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
"Our facilities and infrastructure for firefighting are very limited," he told AFP, standing on the smouldering embers of a peatland fire separated from a residential settlement by a narrow dirt road.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
Djokovic's refusal to disappear from contention on the sport's biggest stages has prolonged the final embers of the 'Big Three' era that captivated crowds for the best part of two decades.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
As the night grows black and the last embers start to dull, “Her Private Hell” sends you off to bed wondering if it could all be true.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Firefighters quickly put out the Lachman fire, but investigators testified at trial in June that embers continued to smolder underground, reigniting on Jan. 7.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Rani pokes at the dying embers of her fire with a stick.
From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
