cinder
UK /ˈsɪndəː/ · US /ˈsɪndɚ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms cinders cindering cindered sinder
- noun Partially or mostly burnt material that results from incomplete combustion of coal or wood etc.; it often rides the rising smoke column into the air, and it can pose a fire hazard when it lands, in dry conditions.
- noun An ember.
- noun Slag from a metal furnace.
- noun (dated, colloquial) Any strong stimulant added to tea, soda water, etc.
- verb (transitive) To reduce to cinders.
- verb (transitive) To cover with cinders. “We plan to cinder this path.”
- proper noun A river in Alaska.
- proper noun A female given name.
Synonyms
burn away cremate burn burn down burn up burn to a crisp char up combure combust forburn forsweal incinerate scathe torch clinker
Etymology
From Middle English cyndyr, syndir, synder, sinder, from Old English sinder (“cinder, dross, slag, scoria, dross of iron, impurity of metal”), from Proto-West Germanic *sindr, from Proto-Germanic *sindrą, *sindraz (“dross, cinder, slag”), from Proto-Indo-European *sendʰro- (“coagulating fluid, liquid slag, scale, cinder”). Cognate with Scots sinder (“ember, cinder”), West Frisian sindel, sintel (“cinder, slag”), Dutch sintel (“cinder, ember, slag”), Middle Low German sinder, sinter (“cinder, slag”), German Sinter (“dross of iron, scale”), Danish sinder (“spark of ignited iron, cinder”), Swedish sinder (“slag or dross from a forge”), Icelandic sindur (“scoring”), Old Church Slavonic сѧдра (sędra, “lime cinder, gypsum”). Spelling (c- for s-) influenced by unrelated French cendre (“ashes”). Doublet of sinter.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Partly burned or vitrified coal, or other combustible, in which fire is extinct.
- noun A hot coal without flame; an ember. Swift.
Etymology [AS. sinder slag, dross; akin to Icel. sindr dross, Sw. sinder, G. sinter, D. sintel; perh. influenced by F. cendre ashes, fr. L. cinis. Cf. Sinter.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cinder”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details