embers

nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,131 of 15,258neutral

Embers are the glowing pieces left when the flames die down. Red inside, grey outside, and hotter than they look.

They are the useful stage of a fire, since cooking over embers rather than flames gives even heat, and every barbecue depends on waiting for them. They stay dangerous long after a fire appears to be out, which is why fire services return to check. The figurative sense is about endings, and the dying embers of a season means the very last of it.

Definitions of embers

1nounembersThe glowing remains of a dying fire.B2+
“The embers were still warm in the morning.”

Where it comes from

Proto-Indo-European
*h₁ews- — to burn
Proto-Germanic
*aimuzjǭ
Proto-West Germanic
*aimuʀjā
Old English
ǣmyrġe
Middle English
embre
English
ember
English, today
embers

ember comes from Middle English embre, eymbre, aymer, eymere, emeri, from Old English ǣmyrġe, from Proto-West Germanic aimuʀjā, from Proto-Germanic aimuzjǭ, a compound of aimaz + uzjǭ. The latter is from Proto-Indo-European h₁ews- (“to burn”). The b is intrusive and was added in English for ease of pronunciation when the vowel of the second syllable (y) disappeared. See also Old High German eimuria (“pyre”), Danish emmer, Swedish mörja (“embers”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove, Camping & Outdoors

First appears in chapter 10 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

embers in the wild

Modern physics has explained the phenomenon, concluding that the foot does not touch the hot surface long enough to burn and that embers are poor conductors of heat.
Firewalking
The pan would be filled with embers and placed under the covers of a bed, to warm it up or dry it out before use.
Bed warmer
In order to avoid the danger of accidentally spreading a fire, many campers pour water on the embers or cover them in dirt.
Ember
Because embers are typically burnt leaves and thus small and lightweight, they can easily become airborne.
Ember
In Tunisia it applies to any piece of meat or fish grilled with embers.
Méchoui

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the ǣmyrġe family

embers ember

embers — used about once every 12,385 pages · #12,131 · point at the bar for the others

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