ember

Everyday

An ember is a small piece of wood or coal that is still glowing hot after a fire has died down. tree →

In the lessons

In safety lessons: embers can stay hot for hours and start new fires; pour water on a campfire and stir until cold. In science, embers glow because they are still burning slowly. In stories, glowing embers make a cosy or spooky scene. Phrases: «glowing embers», «the dying embers».

Examples

• The embers of the campfire glowed orange. tree →
• Pour water on the embers before you leave. tree →
• Wind can blow embers far and start a bushfire. tree →
• We toasted marshmallows over the hot embers. tree →
• The last embers faded in the fireplace. tree →
• Never walk barefoot near embers. tree →
• From a neighbor's fire she brought hither a red, red ember. tree →

Note

Countable; usually plural «embers». Safety: «put it out cold» — embers look dead but can still burn you. In Australia and the USA, wind-blown embers spread bushfires and wildfires. Not a number word.