reduced to ashes
2
6.4
- idiom
:
reducido a cenizas
- Later in 1913, Guy Stringer's barn was reduced to ashes.
Examples
-
Millions of lives were lost, more than two-thirds of all arable land was ruined, and the palaces in the capital had been ransacked, while the country's various cultural assets, including historical archives and many Buddhist temples, were reduced to ashes.
Academic text (2015) -
30,000 reduced to ashes in only one day.
-
I cannot stand by and do nothing while my country is reduced to ashes.
-
All of its siege equipment and most of its supplies had been reduced to ashes.
Fiction book (1993) -
They had been reduced to ashes.
Blog text (34) -
In the grip of a record-breaking drought, towns, farms, and forests could be reduced to ashes overnight given a single spark and a high wind.
Fiction book (2002) -
Forest peoples routinely watch their livelihoods, complex agricultures, and forestry be reduced to ashes when the forest is burned for pasture.
Academic text (1993) -
After the devastating fire, the entire building was reduced to ashes by the rapid flames.
-
The old factory, once bustling with activity, now lay reduced to ashes after the relentless blaze.
-
Following the explosion, the landscape was reduced to ashes, leaving nothing but smoke and ruins.
Synonyms
121
3.0
To destroy a building or object completely by fire
31
4.8
To burn something completely so it is destroyed
27
3.7
To be completely destroyed by fire
8
7.4
To burn until it turns to ash
6
3.2
Become used up by fire or slowly disappear over time from heat and light
To burn something until only small pieces of burned wood or coal remain
Antonyms
How Destroyed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'reduced to ashes' is compositionally built: 'reduce' (to make into a weaker or changed condition) plus 'ashes' (the powdery residue after burning) yields the clear meaning of being destroyed by fire. The preposition 'to' is a functional marker of change of state, and this 'reduced to X' pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase reduced to ashes comes from the image of something burning until only ashes are left and it is reduced to nothing. That's why we use it to say something is 'completely destroyed', whether a building, a paper, or even someone's hopes.