Blaze Meaning
/bleɪz/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA fire, especially a fast-burning fire producing a lot of flames and light.
nounIntense, direct light accompanied with heat.
Sentence Examples
Twenty people perished in the blaze.
A fire was seen to blaze up far away.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Firefighters worked for hours to extinguish the ____ that destroyed the warehouse.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The firefighters worked hard to put out the ____ in the old forest.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English blase, from Old English blæse, blase (“firebrand, torch, lamp, flame”), from Proto-West Germanic *blasā, from Proto-Germanic *blasǭ (“torch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine, be white”). Cognate with Low German blas (“burning candle, torch, fire”), Middle High German blas (“candle, torch, flame”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals,[…]."
— 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
"O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, / Irrecoverably dark, total Eclipse / Without all hope of day!"
— 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 13:
"his blaze of wrath"
— c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
"For what is glory but the blaze of fame?"
— 1671, John Milton, “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 3:
"And far and wide the icy summit blaze."
— 1793, William Wordsworth, Descriptive Sketches:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Firefighters worked for hours to extinguish the ____ that destroyed the warehouse.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The firefighters worked hard to put out the ____ in the old forest.