Funeral Customs

noun the powdery residue left after the burning of a substance

• The ashes of the deceased were scattered in the garden.
• We roasted marshmallows over the ashes of the campfire.
• I can't believe you're still holding onto the ashes of that old relationship.
• From the ashes of failure, she rose stronger than ever before.

noun a stone that is placed at the head of a grave to mark the site

• The headstone was engraved with the deceased's name and dates of birth and death.
• We placed flowers on grandma's headstone for her birthday.
• I can't believe someone would vandalize a headstone like that.
• The abandoned building stood as a headstone of the city's once-thriving industrial past.

noun a stately or impressive building housing a tomb or group of tombs

• The ancient king was buried in a grand mausoleum built in his honor.
• Let's check out that old mausoleum on the edge of town, it's supposed to be haunted.
• That mausoleum is giving me the creeps, let's get out of here.
• The abandoned factory was like a mausoleum of forgotten dreams.

noun A word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea. In this case, 'staff' refers to a group of employees or a pole or rod.

preposition A word that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and other words in a sentence. In this case, 'at' indicates the location or position of something.

• The flag was flown at half-staff to honor the passing of a respected leader.
• Hey, did you notice the flag is at half-staff today? Wonder what happened.
• The flag is at half-staff, something must be up.
• His spirits were at half-staff after receiving the bad news.