ash

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈash 

1

: any of a genus (Fraxinus) of trees of the olive family with pinnate leaves, thin furrowed bark, and gray branchlets

2

: the tough elastic wood of an ash

3

[Old English æsc, name of the corresponding runic letter] : the ligature æ used in Old English and some phonetic alphabets to represent a low front vowel \a\

Illustration of ash

• ¹ash 1

ash

2 of 3

noun (2)

often attributive

1

: something that symbolizes grief, repentance, or humiliation

2

a

: the solid residue left when combustible material is thoroughly burned or is oxidized by chemical means

b

: fine particles of mineral matter from a volcanic vent

3

ashes plural : the remains of the dead human body after cremation or disintegration

4

ashes plural : deathly pallor

the lip of ashes and the cheek of flame

—Lord Byron

5

ashes plural : ruins

ashless

ˈash-ləs 

adjective

ash

3 of 3

verb

ashed; ashing; ashes

transitive verb

1

technical : to convert into ash

The insoluble resid fractions are ashed at 800°C to constant weight.

—Joseph Haggin

2

: to remove ash residue from (something, such as a cigarette) usually by flicking or tapping

She ashed her cigarette onto a patch of dirt floor, then handed it to me.

—Dominic Smith

3

: to apply ash to : to coat with ashes

The rules that once governed the way the game was played had been burnt to the ground, and the earth was salted and ashed for good measure.

—Ani Bundel

It's a cow's milk soft cheese that's ashed on the outside. (It's kind of like a goth brie.)

—Erin Edwards

Synonyms

Noun (2)

• rubble
• debris
• wreckage
• ruins
• remains

Examples of ash in a Sentence

Noun (2)

a new and more splendid city was built on the ashes of the old

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Romans grew you in gardens of volcanic ash— rubbing you on sores, dog bites, lumbago. —Peter Balakian, New Yorker, 14 July 2025

But as the smoke and ash from the Manitoba wildfires drifts south, the smoke has proved a problem for many Americans as well. —Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 July 2025

Verb

The 2025 Los Angeles wildfires reduced more than 15,000 structures to ash in a matter of days. —Santina Contreras, The Conversation, 2 Apr. 2025

Other ways to reuse the tree include: Burning the wood to ash your garden. Making firewood. —Kaycee Sloan, The Enquirer, 23 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English asshe, from Old English æsc; akin to Old High German ask ash, Latin ornus mountain ash

Noun (2)

Middle English, usually as plural asshen, askes, axen, ashes, going back to Old English axe, asce (feminine weak noun), going back to Germanic *askōn- (whence also Old Saxon asc-, in ascal "ash-colored," Old High German asca, ascha "ash," Old Norse aska) beside apparent *azgō in Gothic azgo "ash," both of uncertain origin

Note: The older handbooks see the Germanic etymon as a "root extension" of a verbal base *ā̌s- "burn," in current laryngealist terms *h₁eh₂s-,*h₂h_̥1s- "make dry through heat" ("[durch Hitze] vertrocknen" in Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben)—see etymology and note at arid. The discrepancy between West and North Germanic ask- (from *azg-?) and Gothic azg- (from *azg^h-?) is variously explained. E. Seebold (Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 22. Auflage) regards the velar extension as a suffix of appurtenance, the ashes being in effect "what belongs to the hearth/fire." (Also of relevance would be Armenian azazim "become dry, wither," if from *h₂h_̥1s-g^h- —see H. Martirosyan, Etymologial Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon, Brill, 2010 s.v.) Seebold sees the "ash" words with long vowels (Hittite ḫāšš- "ashes, dust," Sanskrit ā́saḥ) as parallel derivations, in this case by the employment of lengthened grade. The inconvenient Gothic word azgo is explained as the outcome of a suffixed verbal derivative *haz-d-ko- (on the verbal derivative see azalea). Departing completely from the root-extension hypotheses, G. Kroonen (Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Brill, 2013) sees the Germanic word as a possible compound of Indo-European *h₂ed- "dry up" and *d^heg^wh- "burn."

Verb

derivative of ash entry 2

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1655, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Phrases Containing ash

• American mountain ash
• ash-blond
• ash-blonde
• ash can
• bone ash
• emerald ash borer
• European mountain ash
• fly ash
• mountain ash
• prickly ash
• soda ash
• white ash

Rhymes for ash

• bash
• brash
• cache
• cash
• clash
• crash
• dash
• flash
• gash
• hash
• lash
• mash

Kids Definition

ash

1 of 2 noun

ˈash 

1

: any of a genus of trees related to the olive and having bark with grooves and ridges and winged seeds

2

: the hard strong wood of an ash

ash

2 of 2 noun

1

a

: the solid that remains after material is thoroughly burned or is oxidized by chemical means

b

: fine particles of mineral matter from a volcanic vent

2

plural : the remains of something destroyed : ruins

3

plural : the remains of the dead human body especially after cremation

Etymology

Noun

Old English æsc "ash tree"

Noun

Old English asce "the remains of something burned"

Medical Definition

ash

noun

ˈash 

often attributive

1

: the solid residue left when combustible material is thoroughly burned or is oxidized by chemical means

2

ashes plural : the remains of the dead human body after cremation or disintegration