ashes
What fire leaves
Ashes are the powdery residue left after something burns completely.
Wood fires leave ashes in the fireplace; cigarettes leave ashes in the tray.
Human remains after cremation are called ashes: We scattered her ashes at sea.
Figuratively, ashes suggest destruction or ruin: The city lay in ashes.
To rise from the ashes is to recover from devastation.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust comes from funeral rites, emphasizing mortality.
Burning the deceased
- urnDecorative container for ashes
- funeralService honoring the dead
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
- graveSerious and worrying
scattering · remains · interment · eulogy · condolences · bereavement · grief · columbarium
Combustion residue fragment
- emberGlowing coal fragment
- sootCarbon from incomplete burning
- charBurn without destroying
- smokeAirborne combustion byproduct
burn · fire · pyre · incinerate · smolder · scorch · cremate · bonfire
Decayed structural remains
- debrisScattered broken fragments
- dustFine settled particles
- residueMatter left behind
- remainsContinues in place
vestiges · traces · rubble · aftermath · destruction · decay · waste · detritus
Fine settled particles
- ephemeralLasting very briefly
- fleetingPassing very quickly
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- decayGradual organic breakdown
mortality · fading · vanishing · dissipating · temporary · passing · withering · evanescent
Christian fasting season
- penanceSelf-mortification for wrongdoing
- repentanceRemorseful rejection of past wrongs
- mortalityState of eventual death
- fastingDeliberate food avoidance
liturgy · blessing · priest · forehead · sacrament · absolution · humility · contrition
Self-immolating, regenerating bird
- resurrectionRevival from death
- renewalMaking current again
- regenerationBiological self-repair process
- riseMove to higher position
transformation · revival · cycle · metamorphosis · reborn · restore · emerge · mythic
cremation
Burning the deceased
- urnDecorative container for ashes
- funeralService honoring the dead
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
grave · scattering · remains · interment · eulogy · condolences · bereavement · grief · columbarium · casket
cinder
Combustion residue fragment
smoke · burn · fire · pyre · incinerate · smolder · scorch · cremate · bonfire · hearth
ruins
Decayed structural remains
remains · vestiges · traces · rubble · aftermath · destruction · decay · waste · detritus · wreckage
dust
Fine settled particles
decay · mortality · fading · vanishing · dissipating · temporary · passing · withering · evanescent · dissolution
Lent
Christian fasting season
- penanceSelf-mortification for wrongdoing
- repentanceRemorseful rejection of past wrongs
- mortalityState of eventual death
fasting · liturgy · blessing · priest · forehead · sacrament · absolution · humility · contrition · sackcloth
phoenix
Self-immolating, regenerating bird
- resurrectionRevival from death
- renewalMaking current again
- regenerationBiological self-repair process
rise · transformation · revival · cycle · metamorphosis · reborn · restore · emerge · mythic · firebird
- Cinderellaglass slipper, fairy godmother, Prince Charming, pumpkin, midnight
- funeral customsburial, funeral, cremation, funeral procession, casket
- funeralsfuneral, burial, cremation, casket, coffin
- mortalitydeath, death knell, deceased, death rate, death acceptance
- Bonfireflames, fire pit, embers, firewood, logs
- burntburnt toast, burnt rubber, burnt smell, burnt taste, charred
ashesgreen wood
Undried, recently felled wood
life · living tissue · fertile soil · seedling · sapling
- rise from the ashesRecover after seeming destruction
- bottom ashHeavy incombustible furnace residue
- reduced to ashesBurned until nothing remains
- Ash WednesdayLent's opening day
- ash trayCigarette disposal container
- rising from the ashes
ash, ashen, ashy, ashed, ashcan, ashfall, ashpan, wood ash, coal ash