blaze
/bleɪz/ (bre, ipa) · /bleɪz/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈblāz/ (ame, mw)
blaze — verb
1. (of a fire) to send out tall, fierce flames and a lot of light and heat.
(of a fire) to send out tall, fierce flames and a lot of light and heat.
The campfire blazed under the stars while the children roasted marshmallows.
subject is fire/flame source
By midnight the old wooden barn was blazing on every side.
progressive: be blazing
Logs blazed in the stone fireplace and warmed the whole cabin.
Ines threw on more paper, and the bonfire blazed up at once.
- smoulder
burn slowly without flame — opposite of blazing
文法句型
blaze (away)
the fire/sun blazes
用法筆記
Subject is almost always fire itself or something that is on fire (a building, a forest, a candle). For an angry-eyes meaning use sense 2.
常見錯誤
2. to give off very strong light or colour, or (of someone's eyes or face) to show
to give off very strong light or colour, or (of someone's eyes or face) to show fierce anger or excitement.
The garden blazed with red and yellow tulips on Sunday morning.
blaze with + colour/light noun
Yara's eyes blazed when she heard the news about her stolen bike.
of eyes: signals anger or strong emotion
The summer sun blazed down on the empty tennis court all afternoon.
Every window of the palace blazed with light during the wedding party.
- dim
lose brightness — opposite of blazing
文法句型
something blazes with something
用法筆記
Subject is light, colour, eyes, or something brightly lit; never a person directly. 'Blaze with anger' uses 'eyes' or 'face' as subject, not the person.
常見錯誤
3. (of a gun, or of a person holding one) to shoot many bullets one after another w
(of a gun, or of a person holding one) to shoot many bullets one after another without stopping.
Machine guns blazed from the rooftop until the police arrived.
subject is the weapon
The two officers blazed away at the metal targets on the practice range.
blaze away at something
Farouk charged into the room with both pistols blazing.
Soldiers in the trench blazed at anything that moved beyond the wire.
- hold fire
stop shooting — opposite of blazing away
文法句型
blaze away (at someone/something)
guns blazing
用法筆記
Almost always with 'away' or in the fixed phrase 'with (all) guns blazing' (literal or figurative: doing something forcefully and aggressively).
常見錯誤
4. to put news or a story in front of the public so loudly that everyone notices, e
to put news or a story in front of the public so loudly that everyone notices, especially in newspaper headlines or on signs.
Her resignation was blazed across every front page on Monday morning.
passive: be blazed across something
The tabloids blazed Mayor Chen's bribery photos across their front pages for a fortnight.
active: subject + blazed + object + across
Ines saw her own photograph blazed on the side of every city bus.
The team's victory was blazed across giant screens in the town square.
- hush up
deliberately keep news quiet — opposite of blazing it
文法句型
blaze something across/all over something
用法筆記
Almost always in the passive (be blazed across/over/on). Subject of the active form is rarely seen in modern writing.
常見錯誤
blaze — noun
1. a strong fire, especially a large and dangerous one that destroys a building or
a strong fire, especially a large and dangerous one that destroys a building or area; common in news writing.
Firefighters spent six hours fighting the blaze at the city library.
fight/tackle a blaze (news collocation)
A blaze broke out in the kitchen of the hotel just after midnight.
a blaze breaks out + location
Three families lost their homes in the warehouse blaze on Friday.
The blaze destroyed two shops before the rain finally stopped it.
- fire
general word; 'blaze' is bigger and more dramatic
- inferno
even larger and more destructive than a blaze
- conflagration
formal; a huge destructive fire
文法句型
a blaze breaks out
fight/tackle a blaze
用法筆記
Strongly preferred in newspaper and TV-news language; in everyday speech 'fire' is far more common.
常見錯誤
2. a strong, eye-catching show of light, colour, sound, or feeling that everyone no
a strong, eye-catching show of light, colour, sound, or feeling that everyone notices at once — for example a sky full of red sunset, or a star retiring at the height of fame.
The autumn maples filled the valley with a blaze of orange and gold.
a blaze of + colour
The singer ended her career in a blaze of glory at Madison Square Garden.
in a blaze of glory (set phrase)
The new film opened in a blaze of publicity across thirty countries.
Farouk walked onto the stage to a blaze of camera flashes.
文法句型
a blaze of something
用法筆記
Strongly collocational: 'a blaze of glory / publicity / colour / light'. Outside these patterns this sense sounds odd.
常見錯誤
3. a pale strip of fur, usually white, running from a horse's or dog's forehead dow
a pale strip of fur, usually white, running from a horse's or dog's forehead down towards its nose.
The brown pony had a thin white blaze running from its ears to its nose.
blaze + position phrase
Judges noticed the small blaze on the colt's forehead during the morning show.
Our old sheepdog has a soft cream blaze between his eyes.
Each foal in the field carried a different blaze on its face.
文法句型
a blaze on the face/forehead
用法筆記
Used mainly by horse owners, breeders, and vets. Often paired with descriptive adjectives of width or shape (thin, broad, narrow).
常見錯誤
4. used in the phrase 'the blazes' inside angry questions like 'what the blazes' or
used in the phrase 'the blazes' inside angry questions like 'what the blazes' or 'why the blazes' to add force when you are upset or amazed.
What the blazes is going on in the kitchen at this hour?
what the blazes + question
Why the blazes did Ines drive all the way to Taipei without telling us?
why the blazes + clause
Where the blazes did I leave my reading glasses this morning?
How the blazes did the cat get on top of the wardrobe again?
文法句型
what/why/how/where the blazes …?
用法筆記
An old-fashioned softer alternative to 'the hell'. Always plural in this fixed pattern. Mainly British and dated; may sound humorous to younger speakers.