Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

   2. Intense, direct light accompanied with heat; as, to seek
      shelter from the blaze of the sun.

            O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon!
                                                  --Milton.

   3. A bursting out, or active display of any quality; an
      outburst; a brilliant display. ``Fierce blaze of riot.''
      ``His blaze of wrath.'' --Shak.

            For what is glory but the blaze of fame? --Milton.

   4. [Cf. D. bles; akin to E. blaze light.] A white spot on the
      forehead of a horse.

   5. A spot made on trees by chipping off a piece of the bark,
      usually as a surveyor's mark.

            Three blazes in a perpendicular line on the same
            tree indicating a legislative road, the single blaze
            a settlement or neighborhood road.    --Carlton.

   {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.

   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.

   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.