Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Ashes

Ashes ({not transcribed}) , noun, plural

[Old English asche, aske, Anglo-Saxon asce, asce, axe; akin to Old High German asca, German asche, Dutch asch, Icelandic & Swedish aska, Danish aske, Gothic azgo.]

1.
The earthy or mineral particles of combustible substances remaining after combustion, as of wood or coal.
2.
Specifically: The remains of the human body when burnt, or when “returned to dust” by natural decay.
Their martyred blood and ashes sow. — Milton
The coffins were broken open. The ashes were scattered to the winds. — Macaulay
3.
The color of ashes; deathlike paleness.
The lip of ashes, and the cheek of flame. — Byron
Collocations (2)
In dust and ashes or In sackcloth and ashes , with humble expression of grief or repentance; -- from the method of mourning in Eastern lands.
Volcanic ashes or Volcanic ash , the loose, earthy matter, or small fragments of stone or lava, ejected by volcanoes.