“blazes” is a form of
blaze
/bleɪz/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms blazes blazing blazed
- noun A fire, especially a fast-burning fire producing a lot of flames and light.
- noun Intense, direct light accompanied with heat. “They sought shelter from the blaze of the sun.”
- noun A high-visibility orange colour, typically used in warning signs and hunters' clothing.
- noun A bursting out, or active display of any quality.
- noun (poker) A hand consisting of five face cards.
- verb (intransitive) To be on fire, especially producing bright flames. “The campfire blazed merrily.”
- verb (intransitive) To send forth or reflect a bright light; shine like a flame.
- verb (intransitive, poetic) To be conspicuous; shine brightly a brilliancy (of talents, deeds, etc.).
- verb (transitive, rare) To set in a blaze; burn.
- verb (transitive) To cause to shine forth; exhibit vividly; be resplendent with.
- verb (figurative) To be furiously angry; to speak or write in a rage.
- verb (slang) To smoke marijuana.
- noun The white or lighter-coloured markings on a horse's face. “The palomino had a white blaze on its face.”
- noun A spot made on trees by chipping off a piece of the bark, usually as a surveyor's mark.
- noun (hiking) A waymark: any marking as painted on trees, carvings, affixed markers, posts, flagging, or crosses placed to lead hikers on their trail.
- verb (transitive, only in the past participle) To mark with a white spot on the face (as a horse).
- verb (transitive) To set a mark on (as a tree, usually by cutting off a piece of its bark).
- verb (transitive) To indicate or mark out (a trail, especially through vegetation) by a series of blazes. “The guide blazed his way through the undergrowth.”
- verb (transitive) To mark off or stake a claim to land. “He blazed his claim on the land.”
- verb (transitive, figurative) To set a precedent for the taking-on of a challenge; lead by example. “Darwin blazed a path for the rest of us.”
Synonyms
safety orange international orange outburst besmirch denigrate traduce assassinate asperse backbite badmouth befoul belibel besmear bewray blacken blame blemish blot blur calumniate blazing hell glare brilliance blaze away blaze out
Etymology
From Middle English blase, from Old English blæse, blase (“firebrand, torch, lamp, flame”), from Proto-West Germanic *blasā, from Proto-Germanic *blasǭ (“torch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine, be white”).
Cognate with Low German blas (“burning candle, torch, fire”), Middle High German blas (“candle, torch, flame”).
From Middle English blasen, from Middle English blase (“torch”). See above.
A 1639 borrowing, perhaps from Dutch bles or Middle Low German blesse, bles, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *blasī, from Proto-Germanic *blasį̄, from *blasaz (“white, pale (of animals)”) + *-į̄ (forming nouns), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“shiny, white”). Cognate with German Blesse, Swedish bläs. The verb is from the noun.
From Middle English blasen (“to blow”), from Old English *blǣsan, from Proto-West Germanic *blāsan, from Proto-Germanic *blēsaną (“to blow”). Related to English blast.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A stream of gas or vapor emitting light and heat in the process of combustion; a bright flame. "To heaven the blaze uprolled." Croly.
- noun Intense, direct light accompanied with heat; as, to seek shelter from the blaze of the sun. O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon! Milton.
- verb To shine with flame; to glow with flame; as, the fire blazes.
- verb To send forth or reflect glowing or brilliant light; to show a blaze.
Etymology [OE. blase, AS. blæse, blase; akin to OHG. blass whitish, G. blass pale, MHG. blas torch, Icel. blys torch; perh. fr. the same root as E. blast. Cf. Blast, Blush, Blink.]
Etymology [OE. blasen to blow; perh. confused with blast and blaze a flame, OE. blase. Cf. Blaze, v. i., and see Blast.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “blaze”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details