- Like blazes
- Blaze Blaze (bl[=a]z), n. [OE. blase, AS. bl[ae]se, 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}.]
1. A stream of gas or vapor emitting light and heat in the
process of combustion; a bright flame. ``To heaven the
blaze uprolled.'' --Croly.
[1913 Webster]
2. Intense, direct light accompanied with heat; as, to seek shelter from the blaze of the sun. [1913 Webster]
O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon! --Milton. [1913 Webster]
3. A bursting out, or active display of any quality; an outburst; a brilliant display. ``Fierce blaze of riot.'' ``His blaze of wrath.'' --Shak. [1913 Webster]
For what is glory but the blaze of fame? --Milton. [1913 Webster]
4. [Cf. D. bles; akin to E. blaze light.] A white spot on the forehead of a horse. [1913 Webster]
5. A spot made on trees by chipping off a piece of the bark, usually as a surveyor's mark. [1913 Webster]
Three blazes in a perpendicular line on the same tree indicating a legislative road, the single blaze a settlement or neighborhood road. --Carlton. [1913 Webster]
{In a blaze}, on fire; burning with a flame; filled with, giving, or reflecting light; excited or exasperated.
{Like blazes}, furiously; rapidly. [Low] ``The horses did along like blazes tear.'' --Poem in Essex dialect. [1913 Webster]
Note: In low language in the U. S., blazes is frequently used of something extreme or excessive, especially of something very bad; as, blue as blazes. --Neal. [1913 Webster]
Syn: {Blaze}, {Flame}.
Usage: A blaze and a flame are both produced by burning gas. In blaze the idea of light rapidly evolved is prominent, with or without heat; as, the blaze of the sun or of a meteor. Flame includes a stronger notion of heat; as, he perished in the flames. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
