/ æʃ; NAmE / noun
1.
[ U ] the grey or black powder that is left after sth, especially tobacco , wood or coal, has burnt :
cigarette ash
black volcanic ash
2.
ashes [ pl. ] what is left after sth has been destroyed by burning :
The town was reduced to ashes in the fighting.
the glowing ashes of the campfire
( figurative )
The party had risen, like a phoenix, from the ashes of electoral disaster.
3.
ashes [ pl. ] the powder that is left after a dead person's body has been cremated (= burned) :
She wanted her ashes to be scattered at sea.
4.
[ C , U ] (also ˈash tree ) a forest tree with grey bark
—see also mountain ash
5.
[ U ] the hard pale wood of the ash tree
6.
( technical ) the letter æ, used in Old English, and as a phonetic symbol to represent the vowel sound in cat
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IDIOMS
see sackcloth
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WORD ORIGIN
senses 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 .