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Glite Dictionary
to haul ashes

to haul ashes

9.9
To feel very tired after hard work or exercise
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : estar agotado
  • After the hike, I felt like I had hauled ashes all day.

Examples

  • They all hauled ashes after moving furniture for hours.

  • She was hauling ashes by the end of her double shift at the hospital.

  • After running the marathon, I really hauled ashes all afternoon.

  • I hauled ashes!

  • After running the marathon, I really hauled ashes and needed to rest.

  • She was hauling ashes after her long double shift at the hospital.

  • They all hauled ashes from moving furniture for hours and needed a break.

Synonyms

to tire
vsto haul ashes
23 1.0

To become very tired or make someone very tired

is stronger stressing the full worn out state after heavy effort
to tire out
vsto haul ashes
10 2.1

To make a person very tired by using up their energy

describes feeling extremely worn out after exertion rather than the causing action
to weary
vsto haul ashes
4 4.4

To make someone or yourself very tired after long effort

is mainly about strong tiredness after an effort rather than long gradual strain
to feel like a wet rag
vsto haul ashes
  • UK
8.6

To be very tired and weak after hard effort

is a general phrase for the same extreme exhaustion
to ride hard and put away wet
vsto haul ashes
  • Archaic
9.9

To be extremely tired and worn after hard work or rough treatment

does not imply neglect or being left without chance to recover

Antonyms

refreshed
1 1.5

Feeling rested and full of new energy after a break

How Tired

to haul ashes
  • Informal
9.9
to weary
4 4.4

Surface Forms

haul ashes infinitive
hauled ashes past
hauled ashes past participle
hauling ashes present participle
hauls ashes third person singular

Morphology

haul + ash

The meaning 'to feel extremely tired' is not derivable from the literal senses of 'haul' (to pull/drag) and 'ash'/'ashes' (burnt residue). This appears to be an idiomatic or dialectal use (possibly a variant of 'haul ass'), so the semantic link to exhaustion is unpredictable for a B1 learner and therefore opaque.

Etymology

Haul ashes may come from old work scenes where people had to haul heavy buckets of hot ashes from a fire and were left completely worn out. So, the phrase came to mean 'extremely tired'.