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View synonyms for blaze

blaze

1

[ bleyz ]

noun

  1. a bright flame or fire:

    the welcome blaze of the hearth.

  2. a bright, hot gleam or glow:

    the blaze of day.

  3. a sparkling brightness:

    a blaze of jewels.

  4. a sudden, intense outburst, as of fire, passion, or fury:

    to unleash a blaze of pent-up emotions; a blaze of glory.

  5. blazes, Informal. hell:

    Go to blazes!



verb (used without object)

, blazed, blaz·ing.
  1. to burn brightly (sometimes followed by away, up, forth ):

    The bonfire blazed away for hours. The dry wood blazed up at the touch of a match.

  2. to shine like flame (sometimes followed by forth ):

    Their faces blazed with enthusiasm.

  3. to burn with intense feeling or passion (sometimes followed by up ):

    He blazed up at the insult.

  4. to shoot steadily or continuously (usually followed by away ):

    The contestants blazed away at the clay pigeons.

  5. to be brilliantly conspicuous.

blaze

2

[ bleyz ]

noun

  1. a spot or mark made on a tree, as by painting or notching or by chipping away a piece of the bark, to indicate a trail or boundary.
  2. a white area down the center of the face of a horse, cow, etc.

verb (used with object)

, blazed, blaz·ing.
  1. to mark with blazes:

    to blaze a trail.

  2. to lead in forming or finding (a new method, course, etc.):

    His research in rocketry blazed the way for space travel.

blaze

3

[ bleyz ]

verb (used with object)

, blazed, blaz·ing.
  1. to make known; proclaim; publish:

    Headlines blazed the shocking news.

  2. Obsolete. to blow, as from a trumpet.

blaze

1

/ bleɪz /

noun

  1. a strong fire or flame
  2. a very bright light or glare
  3. an outburst (of passion, acclaim, patriotism, etc)
  4. brilliance; brightness
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. to burn fiercely
  2. to shine brightly
  3. often foll by up to become stirred, as with anger or excitement
  4. usually foll by away to shoot continuously
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

blaze

2

/ bleɪz /

noun

  1. a mark, usually indicating a path, made on a tree, esp by chipping off the bark
  2. a light-coloured marking on the face of a domestic animal, esp a horse
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to indicate or mark (a tree, path, etc) with a blaze
  2. blaze a trail
    to explore new territories, areas of knowledge, etc, in such a way that others can follow
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

blaze

3

/ bleɪz /

verb

  1. troften foll byabroad to make widely known; proclaim
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of blaze1

First recorded before 1000; Middle English blase, blease, blese “a flame, blaze,” Old English blase, blæse “torch, lamp”; cognate with Middle High German blas “torch,” German blass (adjective) “pale, whitish”

Origin of blaze2

First recorded in 1635–45; akin to Old Norse blesi, Dutch bles, German Blässe, all meaning “white mark on a beast's face,” and to German adjective blass “pale”; blaze 1( def )

Origin of blaze3

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English blasen “to blow (a horn), fan (fire), breathe (flames),” from Middle Dutch blasen “to blow (a horn)”; cognate with Old Norse blāsa “to blow (as wind, or with the mouth), blow a horn”; blast
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Word History and Origins

Origin of blaze1

Old English blæse

Origin of blaze2

C17: probably from Middle Low German bles white marking; compare blemish

Origin of blaze3

C14: from Middle Dutch blāsen , from Old High German blāsan ; related to Old Norse blāsa
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Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with blaze , also see hot as blazes ; like greased lightning (blazes) .
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Synonym Study

See flame.
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Example Sentences

The Cuyahoga first caught on fire in 1868 and would burn 11 more times until the blaze on June 22, 1969.

Here’s how these aerial operations work, and what it’s like battling blazes from the air.

The blazes quickly ripped through hundreds of thousands of acres, forcing thousands to evacuate, filling the skies with smoke, and raining down ash across much of the region.

A tornado of fire blazed before settling into a spinning blue flame several centimeters tall.

We’re blazing our own path, and creating opportunities that weren’t there before.

On Christmas Day, sometime after dark, a hideous fire overtook the venue: 100 firefighters, 33 fire trucks, a four-alarm blaze.

A Molotov cocktail tumbled in an arc overhead and erupted briefly in a blaze.

The blaze was deemed suspicious enough to warrant an investigation.

They began assisting whomever they could and made plans to fight this blaze on high.

Pasto is almost 8,300 feet up in the mountains, so it was cold and crisp, with a blaze of stars across the sky.

She got up and stood in front of the fire, having her hand on the chimney-piece and looking down at the blaze.

She waited for the material pictures which she thought would gather and blaze before her imagination.

Through these flues were forced currents of hot air from a blaze in a large fireplace at one end of the house.

Hard up as we are for shell he thinks it best to blaze it away freely before closing and to trust our bayonets when we get in.

There was a fire burning in the general-room of the hostelry, and Garnache went to warm him at its cheerful blaze.

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More About Blaze

What does blaze mean?

A blaze is a bright flame or large fire, characterized as being very bright or burning very hot.

Related to this, a blaze is also anything that is exceptionally bright, colorful, passionate, intense, or sudden, such as a jewel.

Also related to this, to blaze means to burn brightly or hotly or to shine like a flame.

A blaze is also a spot or mark on a tree used to indicate the direction of a trail. To blaze a trail is to mark trees or other landmarks, like rocks, with a blaze. Figuratively, if you blaze a trail, you are finding a new way.

To blaze is also to make known or publish, as in The newspaper blazed the result of the trial on the front page.

Example: The house was in a blaze by the time the firefighters arrived but everyone got out safely.

Where does blaze come from?

The first records of the fire blaze come from before the 1000s. It ultimately comes from the Old English blase, meaning “torch, lamp.” The first records of the trail blaze come from the 1630s, related to the Old Norse blesi meaning “white mark on a beast’s face.” And the first records of “make known” blasé come from the 1300s, from the Middle Dutch blasen, meaning “to blow (a horn).”

You might hear some phrases that use blaze. For example, blaze forth or trailblaze means to figuratively forge a path, as you would when marking a trail in the woods. Blazes is a synonym for hell, playing off the image of hell being made up of fire and brimstone. This meaning can be seen in the exclamation oh blazes, meaning “oh hell.” Finally, blaze can be used as a slang term meaning “to smoke cannabis.”

Did you know … ?

What are some other forms related to blaze?

What are some synonyms for blaze?

What are some words that share a root or word element with blaze

What are some words that often get used in discussing blaze?

How is blaze used in real life?

Blaze is a common word with several unrelated meanings. The most common usage relates to fire and light.

 

Try using blaze!

Which of the following is NOT a synonym for blaze?

A. smoke
B. wildfire
C. conflagration
D. bonfire

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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