blaze

Universal Words verb, noun verb 1 [V] to burn brightly and strongly: A huge fire was blazing in the fireplace. * Within minutes the whole building was blazing. * He rushed back into the blazing house. 2 [V] to shine brightly: The sun blazed down from a clear blue sky. * The garden blazed with colour. 3 [V] ~ (with sth) (written) if sb's eyes blaze, they look extremely angry: Her eyes were blazing with fury. 4 (also blazon) [VN] [usuallypassive] ~ sth (across / all over sth) to make news or information widely known by telling people about it in a way they are sure to notice: The story was blazed all over the daily papers. 5 ~ (away) if a gun or sb using a gun blazes, the gun fires continuously: In the distance machine guns were blazing. IDIOMS blaze a trail to be the first to do or to discover sth that others follow: The department is blazing a trail in the field of laser surgery. compareTRAILBLAZER PHRASALVERBS blaze up 1 to suddenly start burning very strongly 2 to suddenly become very angry noun 1 [C] (used especially in newspapers) a very large fire, especially a dangerous one: Five people died in the blaze. * More than 50 firefighters fought to bring the blaze under control. 2 [sing.] strong bright flames in a fire: Dry wood makes a good blaze. 3 [sing.] a ~ of sth a very bright show of lights or colour; an impressive or noticeable show of sth: The gardens in summer are a blaze of colour. * a blaze of lights in the city centre * the bright blaze of the sun * a blaze of glory * They got married in a blaze of publicity. 4 [sing.] (a) ~ of sth a sudden show of very strong feeling: a blaze of anger / passion / hate 5 [C,usually sing.] a white mark on an animal's face IDIOMS what / where / who the blazes...? (old-fashioned, spoken) used to emphasize that you are annoyed and surprised, to avoid using the word 'hell': What the blazes have you done? like blazes (old-fashioned, spoken) very hard; very fast