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Definition of ash noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

ash

noun
 
/æʃ/
 
/æʃ/
Idioms
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  1. [uncountable] the grey or black powder that is left after something, especially tobacco, wood or coal, has burnt
    • cigarette ash
    • black volcanic ash
    • Ash from the volcano fell over a wide area.
    • She flicked ash out of the window carelessly.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • glowing
    • hot
    • red-hot
    … of ash
    • cloud
    verb + ash
    • flick
    • tap
    • reduce something to
    ash + verb
    • fall
    phrases
    • rise from the ashes
    See full entry
  2. ashes
    [plural] what is left after something has been destroyed by burning
    • The town was reduced to ashes in the fighting.
    • the glowing ashes of the campfire
    • The fire had died to cold ashes.
    • (figurative) The party had risen, like a phoenix, from the ashes of electoral disaster.
    • She had seen all her dreams turn to ashes.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • glowing
    • hot
    • red-hot
    … of ash
    • cloud
    verb + ash
    • flick
    • tap
    • reduce something to
    ash + verb
    • fall
    phrases
    • rise from the ashes
    See full entry
  3. ashes
    [plural] the powder that is left after a dead person’s body has been cremated (= burned)
    • She wanted her ashes to be scattered at sea.
    Topics Life stagesc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + ashes
    • scatter
    • spread
    • bury
    See full entry
  4. [countable, uncountable]
    (also ash tree)
    a forest tree with grey barkTopics Plants and treesc2
  5. [uncountable] the hard pale wood of the ash tree
  6. (specialist) the letter æ, used in Old English, and as a phonetic symbol to represent the vowel sound in cat
  7. Word Originsenses 1 to 3 Old English æsce, aexe, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch as and German Asche.senses 4 to 5 Old English æsc, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch es and German Esche.
Idioms
wear, put on, etc. sackcloth and ashes
  1. to behave in a way that shows that you are sorry for something that you have done
See ash in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee ash in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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