ash

verb

Definition of ashnext
as in to kiln

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ash The blaze burned for almost a week, reducing millions of books to ash. — ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026 Then the blast hits, burning Sarah alive (actually a full-sized puppet) and reducing those children to ash. — ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2026 In Figments of Freedom, written, directed by and starring Webber, a Marine goes AWOL, burns his life to ash, and vanishes into America’s fractured heart. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 19 Aug. 2026 Sixty-four of its cities had been reduced to rubble and ash by incendiary bombs, as a submarine blockade strangled its economy, cutting off food, fuel, and raw materials. — James M. Scott, Time, 10 Aug. 2026 Usually used to ward off frost and pests, these permeable materials offer a budget-friendly physical barrier against dust and ash too. — Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2026 Through it all, their bullpen was consistent … in the way that an uncontained wildfire consistently turns acreage to ash. — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 15 July 2026 Now, the cabin where those memories were made has been reduced to ash. — Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 27 June 2026 The fires in West Miami-Dade that have sent smoke, soot and ash into nearby communities, prompting over 200 people to leave their homes, is more than half contained as of Thursday, according to the Florida Forest Service. — Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 18 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ash
  1. incinerate
  2. light
  3. cremate
  4. ignite
  5. kindle
  6. torch
  7. fire
  8. burn
Verb
  • The Food and Drug Administration recommends disposing of drugs by dropping them off at a take-back location or by mailing them using a prepaid envelope that is delivered to a facility where the drugs are incinerated.
    — Sunny Linnebur, The Conversation, 18 Sep. 2026
  • And this particular person, his name is Tom Swift, just happened to be in an elevator, wrong place, wrong time when the plane hit and the jet fuel from the plane went right down the elevator shaft and incinerated it.
    — Dana Taylor, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of incinerate
Verb
  • If Mick hadn’t come cruising into that playground, lights off?
    — George Saunders, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Rather than lighting an entire room, try task lighting like reading lamps, under-the-cabinet light strips, and desk lamps that illuminate a workspace.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of light
Verb
  • Medical examiners typically cremate remains after a certain period of time if they are not claimed, which prevents family members from making an identification at a later time, Hess said.
    — Emma Tucker, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The village’s daily rhythms are ordered by the passing trains—until a train arrives from Pakistan loaded with the corpses of Sikh refugees, and the community is made to cremate the dead.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026
Definition of cremate
Verb
  • Most include decks or private patios with firepits ignited by the turn of a switch.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Guyette and his colleagues increasingly suspected that fires were not natural but anthropogenic—ignited by people.
    — M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of ignite
Verb
  • This complicates things for Teagan, who has begun to kindle something with Cam.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Now that fall is on the horizon, hope has been kindled for abundant rainfall.
    — Robert Klose, Christian Science Monitor, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of kindle
Verb
  • The testy exchange capped a five-minute opening statement in which Williams torched national reporting for trying to box his injury into a tidy Grade 2 timeline.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • At NoriFish, it gets grilled or torched until the skin turns crisp and charred while the interior stays buttery.
    — Angela Hansberger, AJC.com, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of torch
Verb
  • While many of the more contentious and controversial aspects of his life are presented in one-sided fashion, friend and former manager Rory Holloway’s still-raw sense of betrayal at Tyson firing his entire team is evoked with vivid irritation.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Gillis was fired from SNL in 2019 for racist and homophobic comments, but has been invited back to host three times since.
    — Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of fire
Verb
  • The house took eight years to build on the property where the couple’s previous home burned during the 2018 Woolsey fire, along with Albuquerque’s studio, archive and many of her paintings.
    — Jane Horowitz, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The wall's stonework showed signs of fire damage, while archaeologists also uncovered burned seeds and the remains of a charred wooden building nearby.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of burn

Browse Nearby Words

as good as
ash
ashamed
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Cite this Entry

“Ash.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ash. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about ash

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