Blaze

n. [ 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. ] 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 ]

☞ 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. 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 ]