Jump to:

• ashes
  ashes

  plural noun

  ruins or remains, as after destruction or burning
• Ashes
  Ashes

  plural noun

  a cremated cricket stump in a pottery urn now preserved at Lord's. Victory or defeat in test matches between England and Australia is referred to as winning, losing, or retaining the Ashes

ashes

¹ British  

/ ˈæʃɪz /

plural noun

1. ruins or remains, as after destruction or burning

   the city was left in ashes

2. the remains of a human body after cremation

---

Ashes ² British  

/ ˈæʃɪz /

plural noun

1. a cremated cricket stump in a pottery urn now preserved at Lord's. Victory or defeat in test matches between England and Australia is referred to as winning, losing, or retaining the Ashes

---

Etymology

Origin of Ashes

from the mock obituary of English cricket in The Times in 1882 after a great Australian victory at the Oval, in which it was said that the body would be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia

Example Sentences

Glatt, who wears a bracelet containing some of Dena’s ashes “so she’ll always be with me,” unsurprisingly was emotional after the Santa Anita Derby last month.

From Los Angeles Times • May 2, 2026

A group of grandmothers formed an unlikely friendship with a pro wrestler during an emotional trip to Las Vegas to scatter a late husband's ashes.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026

Then too, she has her mother’s ashes in storage, next to a vintage Pee-wee Herman doll in its original packaging.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

“We had to wait until the ashes cooled down to make sure we weren’t leaving buttons or anything identifying about it, and the funeral home would take care of the rest,” Bennett said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

We stopped in a small clearing, in front of an old, abandoned outhouse, weathered to the color of ashes and looking like a gust of wind would knock it flat.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney