blaze
[noun]
Synonyms:
- fire, bonfire, conflagration, flames
- glare, beam, brilliance, flare, flash, gleam, glitter, glow, light, radiance
[verb]
Synonyms:
- burn, fire, flame
- shine, beam, flare, flash, glare, gleam, glow

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Related Words: illuminate, illumine, light, radiate, shine, coruscate, fulgurate, scintillate, sparkle, incandesce

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English Thesaurus: burn, be on fire, be alight, be ablaze, blaze, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. blaze¹ /bleɪz/ 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

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. blaze² verb [intransitive]
[Sense 1-4, 6: Date: 1200-1300; Origin: ⇒ blaze¹(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); ⇒ blaze¹(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.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

blaze
noun
ADJ. fierce, intense, massive
VERB + BLAZE attend, fight, tackle The fire brigade attended the blaze.
control, bring/get under control | extinguish, put out | fan Strong winds fanned the blaze.
BLAZE + VERB spread, sweep through sth The blaze swept through the whole building.
PREP. in a/the ~ The antiques were destroyed in a blaze last year.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

blaze

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.
a house/factory/car etc blaze (=a burning house/factory/car etc)
Three people were badly hurt in a house blaze.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

burn to produce heat and flames:
The fire was still burning.
A pile of branches was burning in the yard.
be on fire if a building, car, piece of clothing etc is on fire, it is burning and being damaged:
Before long, the neighbouring houses were on fire too.
be alight especially written if something is alight, it is burning:
By the time the fire engines got there, the whole building was already alight.
The candle was still alight.
be ablaze especially written if something is ablaze, it is burning with a lot of flames, so that it is seriously damaged:
Twelve hours after the bombing raid, many parts of the city were still ablaze.
The two hundred tonnes of straw were now ablaze and firefighters struggled to get the fire under control.
blaze to burn very brightly with a lot of flames and heat:
A big log fire was blazing in the fireplace.
smoulder British English, smolder American English /ˈsməʊldə $ ˈsmoʊldər/ to burn slowly and continuously, producing smoke but no flames:
A cigarette smouldered in the ashtray.
The fire in the chemical factory was so intense that it was still smouldering a week later.
flicker if a fire or flame flickers, it burns with an unsteady light that appears and disappears quickly:
A welcoming fire flickered in the grate.
Inside the shrine candles flicker next to statues of saints.
catch fire to start burning accidentally:
We were worried the house would catch fire.
Two farm workers died when a barn caught fire yesterday.
burst into flames to suddenly start burning and produce a lot of flames that cause serious damage:
The plane crashed into the side of the mountain and burst into flames.
ignite /ɪɡˈnaɪt/ technical if a chemical or gas ignites, it starts burning:
The compound ignites at 450 degrees Celsius.
Scientists could not explain why the gas had suddenly ignited.
set fire to something (also set something on fire) to make something start burning so that it gets damaged:
Vandals set fire to an empty warehouse.
Teresa wondered if the burning log might set fire to the curtains.
The Vikings attacked villages along the coast and set them on fire.
Sparks from the fireplace could easily set the curtains on fire.
scorch to damage the surface of something by burning it so that a dark mark is left on it:
Having the iron on a very high heat can scorch the fabric.
The heater was left on all night and it scorched the wall.
singe /sɪndʒ/ to damage hair, wool, paper etc by burning it slightly so that the ends or edges are burnt:
The flames were hot enough to singe your eyebrows.
scald to burn your skin with very hot liquid or steam:
The coffee was so hot it nearly scalded his tongue.
It’s easy to knock a pan off the stove and scald yourself.
He was scalded by steam escaping from the broken pipe.
put out to make something such as a fire, cigarette, or candle stop burning:
It took firefighters four hours to put out the blaze.
She threw sand on the fire to put it out.
I put out my cigarette and went back into the house.
extinguish /ɪkˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/ formal to make something such as a fire, cigarette, or candle stop burning:
He managed to extinguish the flames with his coat.
Customers who smoke will be asked to extinguish their cigarettes or leave the premises.
blow out to make a flame or fire stop burning by blowing on it:
He blew out the candle and went to sleep.
The wind blew out the fire.

[TahlilGaran] English 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.
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 /ˌkɒnfləˈɡreɪʃən $ ˌkɑːn-/ formal a very large fire that destroys a lot of buildings, trees etc:
The conflagration spread rapidly through the old town.
sack/give somebody the sack British English informal to make someone leave their job, especially because they are not good at it, or because they have done something wrong:
Bates was sacked from his job after the team failed to win any games.
His boss gave him the sack for taking too much time off work.
lay somebody off to make a lot of workers, especially workers in a large factory or organization, leave their jobs, because there is not enough work for them to do, or not enough money to pay their wages:
3000 car workers have been laid off at the factory in Cleveland.
make somebody redundant British English to make someone leave their job because they are no longer needed:
5 staff will be made redundant at the end of this month.
let somebody go to make someone leave their job, Used by employers to avoid saying directly that they are getting rid of people:
We’ve had to let two members of staff go.
discharge to make someone leave their job in the army, air force etc:
Grant had been discharged from the navy for threatening an officer.
ease somebody out to make someone leave their job in a way that makes it seem as if they have chosen to leave:
He had been eased out of office in an attempt to prevent a political crisis.
relieve somebody of their post/position formal to make someone leave their job because they have done something wrong. Used especially to avoid saying this directly, and also when the job is a powerful one:
The colonel and two other senior officers were relieved of their posts.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

shine to produce bright light:
The sun was shining.
flash to shine brightly for a very short time, or to shine on and off very quickly many times:
Lightning flashed across the sky.
The police car’s lights were flashing.
glare to shine with a very strong light which hurts your eyes:
The sun glared in her eyes.
flicker to shine with an unsteady light – used about a flame or light:
The candle flickered and went out.
twinkle if stars or lights twinkle, they shine in the dark in a way that seems to change from bright to faint, especially because you are a long way away from them:
stars twinkling in the sky
The harbour lights twinkled in the distance.
glow especially literary to shine with a warm soft light:
Lights glowed in the windows.
blaze literary to shine very brightly:
The lights of the factory were still blazing.
sparkle/glitter if something sparkles, it shines with many small bright points when light is on it:
The sea sparkled in the sunlight.
Jewels glittered around her neck.
gleam to shine by reflecting the light – used especially about smooth clean surfaces, or about someone’s eyes or teeth:
The sword’s blade gleamed.
a gleaming sports car
His blue eyes gleamed with amusement.
glint to shine with quick flashes of light:
The knife glinted in the sunlight.
glisten literary to shine – used about wet or oily surfaces. Used especially when saying that someone’s eyes are full of tears, or someone’s skin is covered in sweat:
As they were leaving, her eyes glistened with tears.
His forehead was glistening with sweat.
The wet chairs glistened in the afternoon sun.
catch the light if something catches the light, it shines because it is reflecting light:
Her diamond ring caught the light.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲