ash wednesday Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the 7th Wednesday before Easter; the first day of Lent; the day following Mardi Gras (`Fat Tuesday'); a day of fasting and repentance

WordNet


Ash` Wednes"day
Definitions
  1. The first day of Lent; -- so called from a custom in the Roman Catholic church of putting ashes, on that day, upon the foreheads of penitents.

Webster 1913