- [uncountable]
the grey or black powder that is left after something, especially tobacco, wood or coal, has burnt 灰；灰烬 cigarette ash 香烟灰 black volcanic ash 黑色火山灰 Ash from the volcano fell over a wide area. 火山灰散落的范围非常广。 She flicked ash out of the window carelessly. 她不小心把烟灰弹到了窗外。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- glowing
- hot
- red-hot
- …
- cloud
- flick
- tap
- reduce something to
- …
- fall
- rise from the ashes
- ashes[plural]
what is left after something has been destroyed by burning 灰烬；废墟 The town was reduced to ashes in the fighting. 这座城镇在战斗中化为灰烬。 the glowing ashes of the campfire 营火剩下的灼热余烬 The fire had died to cold ashes. 火早已熄灭，留下一堆冷灰。 - (figurative)
The party had risen, like a phoenix, from the ashes of electoral disaster. 该党像长生鸟一样，从选举惨败的灰烬中重新崛起。 She had seen all her dreams turn to ashes. 她看到自己所有的梦想都化为灰烬。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- glowing
- hot
- red-hot
- …
- cloud
- flick
- tap
- reduce something to
- …
- fall
- rise from the ashes
- ashes[plural]
the powder that is left after a dead person’s body has been cremated (= burned) 骨灰 Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + ashes- scatter
- spread
- bury
- …
- [countable, uncountable] (also ash tree)
a forest tree with grey bark 梣；白蜡树 
- [uncountable]
the hard pale wood of the ash tree 梣木 - (specialist)
the letter æ, used in Old English, and as a phonetic symbol to represent the vowel sound in cat * æ（古英语的一个字母，也为音标，表示如 cat 一词中的元音）
Word Originsenses 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.
Idioms
wear, put on, etc. sackcloth and ashes
to behave in a way that shows that you are sorry for something that you have done 忏悔；悔恨；后悔