I. blaze 1 /bleɪz/ BrE AmE noun
[ Sense 1-6: Language: Old English ; Origin: blæse 'torch' ]
[ Sense 7: Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: German ; Origin: blas 'white mark' ]
1 . FIRE
a) [countable usually singular] a big dangerous fire – used especially in news reports ⇨ ablaze :
It took almost 100 firemen to bring the blaze under control.
fight/tackle/control a blaze
Helicopters were used to help fight the blaze.
house/factory/barn etc blaze
a huge chemical factory blaze
b) [singular] a fire burning with strong bright flames:
I lit the fire and soon had a cheerful blaze going.
2 . LIGHT/COLOUR [singular] very bright light or colour ⇨ ablaze
blaze of
the blaze of light from the security lamps
The garden is a blaze of colour at this time of year.
3 . blaze of publicity/glory a lot of public attention or success and praise:
As soon as the trial was over, the blaze of publicity surrounding him vanished.
She played the Canada tournament, then retired, going out in a blaze of glory (=ending her career with a lot of success and praise) .
4 . [singular] a sudden show of very strong emotion:
A blaze of anger flashed across his face.
5 . what the blazes/who the blazes etc old-fashioned spoken used to emphasize a question when you are annoyed:
What the blazes is going on here?
6 . like blazes old-fashioned spoken as fast, as much, or as strongly as possible:
We had to run like blazes.
7 . [countable usually singular] a white mark, especially one down the front of a horse’s face
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ fight a blaze
Nearly 80 firefighters fought the blaze for three hours on Sunday.
▪ tackle a blaze British English (=fight it)
Fire crews were called out to tackle a blaze at a house near York.
▪ control a blaze
It took more than an hour to control the blaze at the hotel.
▪ bring a blaze under control
For more than four hours they battled to bring the blaze under control.
▪ put out/extinguish a blaze
Staff managed to put out the blaze before firemen arrived.
▪ a blaze breaks out ( also a blaze starts )
The blaze broke out on the third floor of the building.
▪ a blaze spreads
The blaze quickly spread to a neighbouring house.
■ NOUN + blaze
▪ a house/factory/car etc blaze (=a burning house/factory/car etc)
Three people were badly hurt in a house blaze.
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THESAURUS
▪ fire flames that burn in an uncontrolled way and destroy or damage things:
In April, a fire at the school destroyed the science block.
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a forest fire
▪ flames the bright parts of a fire that you see burning in the air:
The flames from the burning building were lighting up the night sky.
▪ blaze written a large and dangerous fire – used especially in news reports:
Firemen fought to keep the blaze under control.
▪ inferno written an extremely large and dangerous fire which is out of control – used especially in news reports:
The entire building was on fire and hundreds of people were trapped in the inferno.
▪ conflagration /ˌkɒnfləˈɡreɪʃ ə n $ ˌkɑːn-/ formal a very large fire that destroys a lot of buildings, trees etc:
The conflagration spread rapidly through the old town.
II. blaze 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Sense 1-4, 6: Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ blaze 1 (1) ]
[ Sense 5: Date: 1700-1800 ; Origin: blaze 'mark showing a path to be followed, made by cutting a piece from a tree' (17-20 centuries) ; ⇨ ↑ blaze 1 (7) ]
1 . FIRE to burn very brightly and strongly ⇨ blazing :
The room was warm, with a fire blazing in the hearth.
2 . LIGHT to shine with a very bright light:
A huge truck was advancing towards us, its headlights blazing.
The sun blazed down as we walked along the valley.
3 . EYES [usually in progressive] literary if someone’s eyes are blazing, their eyes are shining brightly because they are feeling a very strong emotion, usually anger
blaze with
Linda leapt to her feet, her dark eyes blazing with anger.
4 . GUN ( also blaze away ) if guns blaze, they fire bullets quickly and continuously:
An enemy plane roared overhead, its guns blazing.
5 . blaze a trail to develop or do something new and important, or to do something important that no one has done before:
an innovative young company that has blazed a trail for others to follow
6 . be blazed across/all over something if something is blazed across a newspaper etc, it is written in a way that everyone will notice:
News of their divorce was blazed across all the tabloids.