Definition

Verb: - To speak with great intensity, passion, or aggression. This meaning describes delivering a verbal attack or a passionate argument. - To shoot a gun rapidly and repeatedly. This meaning describes continuous, rapid gunfire. - To perform a passage of music or acting brilliantly and with great speed or energy.

Examples of Usage

• Verb:
  • The senator blazed away at his critics during the heated debate.
  • The soldiers blazed away at the enemy position until their ammunition was exhausted.
  • The pianist blazed away through the complex finale, amazing the audience.

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often implies a sustained, energetic, and sometimes relentless action, whether in speech, combat, or performance.
• It can be used metaphorically in non-literal contexts to describe any intense, sustained effort.
  • The writer blazed away at his keyboard to meet the deadline.

Variants and Related Words

• Blaze (verb): To burn brightly or fiercely; to shine with a strong light. Also used metaphorically for intense emotion or action (e.g., ).
• Blazing (adjective): Very hot, bright, or intense (e.g., , ).

Synonyms

• Verb (speak): Rail against, harangue, fulminate.
• Verb (shoot): Fire away, let fly, pepper (with gunfire).
• Verb (perform): Rip through, tear through, execute brilliantly.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Blaze a trail: To be a pioneer; to be the first to do something and show others how it can be done.
  • The new research blazed a trail for future studies.

Related Idioms

• While "blaze away" itself functions as a phrasal verb, it is conceptually related to idioms involving fire and intensity, such as:
  • Like a house on fire: Very quickly and successfully.

    • They got along like a house on fire.

Verb

1. speak with fire and passion
   • He blazed away at his opponents in the Senate
2. shoot rapidly and repeatedly
   • He blazed away at the men
3. perform (an acting passage) brilliantly and rapidly
   • Mr. Jones blazed away in one passage after another to loud applause