blaze

/bleɪz/
/bleɪz/
IPA guide

Other forms: blazing; blazed; blazes

A blaze is a bright, strong flame. It can come from a fire, the sun, or anything else that shines or burns brilliantly.

A fire is a blaze. Fire, when it's going strong and burning bright, is blazing. The greater the blaze, the harder a fire is to put out. You can also use this word for other types of brightness or shining. When Michael Jordan played in the NBA, he blazed across the league. Fashion trends that catch on quickly blaze across the country. If something spreads or shines like wildfire, it blazes.

Definitions of blaze
  1. noun
    a strong flame that burns brightly
    “the blaze spread rapidly”
    synonyms: blazing
    see moresee less
    type of:
    fire, flame, flaming
    the process of combustion of inflammable materials producing heat and light and (often) smoke
  2. noun
    noisy and unrestrained mischief
    “raising blazes”
    synonyms: hell
    see moresee less
    type of:
    devilment, devilry, deviltry, mischief, mischief-making, mischievousness, rascality, roguery, roguishness, shenanigan
    reckless or malicious behavior that causes discomfort or annoyance in others
  3. verb
    shine brightly and intensively
    “Meteors blazed across the atmosphere”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    beam, shine
    emit light; be bright, as of the sun or a light
  4. verb
    burn brightly and intensely
    “The summer sun alone can cause a pine to blaze”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    burn, combust
    undergo combustion
  5. verb
    shoot rapidly and repeatedly
    “He blazed away at the men”
    synonyms: blaze away
    see moresee less
    type of:
    blast, shoot
    fire a shot
  6. verb
    move rapidly and as if blazing
    “The spaceship blazed out into space”
    synonyms: blaze out
    see moresee less
    type of:
    depart, part, set forth, set off, set out, start, start out, take off
    leave
  7. noun
    a light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted
    synonyms: brilliance, glare
    see moresee less
    type of:
    brightness
    the location of a visual perception along a continuum from black to white
  8. noun
    a light-colored marking
    “they chipped off bark to mark the trail with blazes”
    “the horse had a blaze between its eyes”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    marking
    a pattern of marks
  9. verb
    indicate by marking trees with blazes
    “blaze a trail”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    mark
    designate as if by a mark
  10. noun
    a cause of difficulty and suffering
    “go to blazes”
    synonyms: hell
    see moresee less
    type of:
    trouble
    an event causing distress or pain
Pronunciation
US
/bleɪz/
UK
/bleɪz/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘blaze'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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