DCHP-1 Online

blaze ((n.)) † 

• 1 n. a white mark made in a tree, usually by chopping off a slice of bark, to indicate a trail or survey line in a forest.

  See also: trail blaze  

  • 1768  [[We] walked a great Way in an Indian Path, and saw several marked trees, as is practised among the Southern Indians.]
  • 1842  These blazes are of as much use as finger posts of a dark night.
  • 1965  The snow had come up over many of our blazes and the trapline was hard to follow. . .

• 2 n. a trail marked by blazes.

  • 1833  (1838)  At length . . . I had the inexpressible comfort of stumbling upon a familiar blaze, which . . . led me to my own clearing. . .
  • 1946  "We've a plain blaze back to the yard," said Gideon.