Definition of "ashing" [ashing]

• An analytic procedure in which a sample is heated in a furnace to leave a residue of ash, either to determine the gross mineral content, or as a preparation for further analysis (noun)

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• "African American skin tends to dry out faster than Caucasian skin and along with that comes the "ashing" of the elbows, the face, the knees, and the feet."
• "I ignored him and remained perched by the kitchen window on a cast-iron barstool, ashing a cigarette into a half-full coffee cup."
• ""At fifty pounds overweight, there are neon signs fl ashing," she explains."