ash-heap

7.8

A pile of ashes left after burning wood or coal

noun
/æʃ hiːp/

: montón de cenizas

He tossed the burned logs onto the ash-heap behind the cottage.

Examples

After the fire, all that remained of the old barn was an ash-heap in the field.
The old fire pit was filled with an ash-heap.
The historian described the forgotten empire as consigned to the ash-heap of history.
They dumped the ash-heap behind the barn.
After the fire, all that remained of the old barn was an ash-heap in the field.
He tossed the burned logs onto the ash-heap behind the cottage.
The old fire pit was filled with an ash-heap of ashes.

Synonyms

pile

vsash-heap

426 1.9

A heap of things put together

is limited to ash residue rather than general collections

heap

vsash-heap

53 1.1

A pile of things put on top of each other in no order

refers specifically to burned residue rather than messy piles

mound

vsash-heap

37 2.1

A small pile of things put on top of each other

is specific to ash residue rather than any gathered material

ash heap

vsash-heap

4.4

A pile of ashes left after something has been burned

is the hyphenated form of the same phrase

Surface Forms

ash-heap singular

ash-heaps plural

Morphology

ash-heap = ash + heap (transparent) = ash + heap

Direct, literal combination of two common nouns; meaning 'a pile of ashes' is immediately derivable.

Etymology

The word ash-heap comes from the simple English parts ash ('the grey bits left after a fire') and heap ('a pile'). So an ash-heap is literally a pile of ashes and is also used for things people have thrown away or forgotten, as in the 'ash-heap of history'.