cinder
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English cinder, 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.
Pronunciation
edit- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɪndɚ/
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsɪndə(ɹ)/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -ɪndə(ɹ)
Noun
editcinder (plural cinders)
- 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
- 1962 June, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Modern Railways, page 399:
- Travellers over the London & North Western main line in bygone days will need no reminder of the pattering of cinders on the carriage roofs, the fountains of sparks from the chimneys at night and the distance from which the exhaust of approaching locomotives could be heard, due to the fierceness of their blast in such conditions.
- An ember.
- 1730, Jonathan Swift, The Lady's Dressing Room:
- If from adown the hopeful chops
The fat upon the cinder drops,
To stinking smoke it turns the flame,
Poisoning the flesh from whence it came
- Slag from a metal furnace.
- (dated, colloquial) Any strong stimulant added to tea, soda water, etc.
- 1846, Catherine Grace Frances Gore, Selected Works, volume 2, page 9:
- Oh, horrid proposition! One would imagine, Tom, that you had been a coal-heaver. Had you said soda and cinder, I would have seconded the motion.
- 2021, Glenda Young, The Miner's Lass:
- She'd sit by the fire, arms crossed, demanding that Ruby spike her tea with a cinder. But Ruby would never give in to her demands, no matter how much her mam begged. There was no alcohol in the house now; Arthur had made sure of that in an effort to get Mary sober.
Derived terms
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See also
editVerb
editcinder (third-person singular simple present cinders, present participle cindering, simple past and past participle cindered)
- (transitive) To reduce to cinders.
- (transitive) To cover with cinders.
- We plan to cinder this path.
Translations
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See also
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edit- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English doublets
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɪndə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɪndə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English dated terms
- English colloquialisms
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples