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
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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
She sounded disaffected, cool, all blues and violets, the opposite of the hot ember glow that burned inside Maya.
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
In the 19th century, locomotives threw off hot embers that set nearby fields and barns ablaze.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Beyer said the material works by reflecting radiant heat and blocking embers from entering the structure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Wind, intense heat and burning embers can all affect how a fire moves, meaning two neighbouring houses can experience very different conditions.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
It is an ideal fuel for buried embers, which can lie dormant until favourable conditions, such as wind and dry weather, allow them to reignite in broad daylight.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
We hitched her to the wagon, poured water on the embers, and set off for home on the crown of the road.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
