blaze1
  
  n.
   - a very large or fiercely burning fire.
 - a very bright light or display of colour. 
▸a conspicuous display or outburst of something:
 they broke up in a blaze of publicity.
 - 
(blazes)
 informal used as a euphemism for ‘hell’.
 
v.
  - burn or shine fiercely or brightly.
 - shoot repeatedly or indiscriminately.
 
 
  Phrase
  
    
      - like blazes
 informal very fast or forcefully. 
    
   
  Derivative
  
    - blazing adj.
  - blazingly adv.
 
   
  Etymology
  OE blæse ‘torch, bright fire’, of Gmc origin.
 
  
    
blaze2
  
  n.
  - a white stripe down the face of a horse or other animal.
 - a cut made on a tree to mark a route.
 
v.
 
(
blaze a trail)
 mark out a path or route. 
▸be the first to do something; pioneer.
 
  Etymology
  C17: ult. of Gmc origin; rel. to blaze1, and prob. to blemish.
 
  
    
blaze3
  
  v.
 present (news) in a prominent or sensational manner.
 
  Etymology
  ME (in the sense ‘blow out on a trumpet’): from Mid. Low Ger. or MDu. blāzen ‘to blow’; rel. to blow1.