Definitions
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun plural The earthy or mineral particles of combustible substances remaining after combustion, as of wood or coal.
- noun plural Specifically: The remains of the human body when burnt, or when “returned to dust” by natural decay.
- noun plural The color of ashes; deathlike paleness.
- noun plural with humble expression of grief or repentance; -- from the method of mourning in Eastern lands.
- noun plural the loose, earthy matter, or small fragments of stone or lava, ejected by volcanoes.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Plural form of
ash .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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_Dust and ashes, dust and ashes_, echoes from the gray walls, the mouldering thatch of the _souks_, the long lamentable song of the blind beggars sitting in rows under the feet of the camels and asses.
In Morocco Edith Wharton 1899
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Discuss why the phoenix rising from the ashes is an inspiring image for African-Americans emerging from the slave era in
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I glanced warily at him, for I was on my knees taking the ashes from the stove.
Chapter 9 2010
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Blige and Jennifer Hudson left the stage in ashes and left many wondering if any acts on Sunday's Grammy Awards would match their vocal firepower.
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They were all that were left of Pauloo, which likewise was in ashes, for a third schooner had come in through the Pauloo Passage.
YAH! YAH! YAH! 2010
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He emptied the ashes from the stoves, brought up the coal and kindling, and lighted the fires before the most energetic one of them was at his desk.
The Mexican 2010
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This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human ashes, is but a just tribute to the Memory of Boatswain, a Dog.
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This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human ashes, is but a just tribute to the Memory of Boatswain, a Dog.
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Fifth, what burns my ashes is that ignorant conservatives are still trying to spread the LIE that Barack Obama is an Islamist or, to be more correct, a Muslim.
duh pookie 2008
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As I look out my window I see mounds of ashes from the inferno that occured when Lake Winnipeg boiled over.
Things unsaid 2008
faraway commented on the word ashes
The Ashes = 'the trophy, in the form of an urn containing a cremated cricket stump, kept permanently in England, played for by England and Australia in test cricket'. - Macquarie dictionary
September 14, 2007
uselessness commented on the word ashes
I first discovered this in one of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide books, being completely unfamiliar with the sport of cricket. If I recall correctly, the ashes were actually the remains of some vitally important intergalactic something-or-other, and caused quite the ruckus when the old owners came back for it.
There was also an elaborate explanation for the sport itself, which was actually started millennia ago as a distasteful parody of the slaughtering of an entire alien race on a planet known as Krikkit. Over time humans forgot about the creatures of Krikkit and the origin of the game, and continued to play the barbaric thing; for that reason much of the rest of the galaxy viewed the people of Earth (or at least Britain) as absurdly coarse and insensitive. I might have some of the details wrong, but anything by Douglas Adams is worth reading several times over. ;-)
September 15, 2007
faraway commented on the word ashes
Haha. Yay for Douglas Adams. And cricket is a rather strange game. Test cricket matches can be played over 5 days, for example, and I mean all day, for 5 days. In the hot hot sun.
September 15, 2007
uselessness commented on the word ashes
And cold cold moon, apparently. ;-)
September 17, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word ashes
RIP, Frank McCourt.
July 20, 2009
bilby commented on the word ashes
Hear hear.
July 20, 2009