1[uncountable]the grey or black powder that is left after something, especially tobacco, wood or coal, has burntcigarette ashblack volcanic ashShe flicked ash out of the window carelessly.2ashes[plural]what is left after something has been destroyed by burningThe 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.She had seen all her dreams turn to ashes.3ashes[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.4[countable, uncountable] (alsoash tree)a forest tree with grey bark see also mountain ash5[uncountable]the hard pale wood of the ash tree6(technical) the letter æ, used in Old English, and as a phonetic symbol to represent the vowel sound in cat
Idioms
see wear, put on, etc. sackcloth and ashes at sackcloth
æʃ
æʃ
