noun
plural ashes
the soft gray powder that remains after something (such as a cigarette or wood) has been completely burned and destroyed by fire [noncount]
ashes [plural] :the burned parts that remain when something is destroyed
ashes [plural] :the remains of a dead human body after it has been burned or cremated
sackcloth and ashes
noun
plural ashes
[count] :a type of tree that grows in northern parts of the world and that has thin gray bark and hard wood
[noncount] :the hard wood of an ash tree