1 B2 neutral
To fire weapons rapidly and without stopping.
"The gunner blazed away at the approaching vehicles until he ran out of ammunition."
inseparable
blaze away
B2 neutral inseparable intransitive
To fire weapons rapidly and continuously; or to burn intensely with bright flames; or to work or speak with great energy.
In plain English
To shoot a gun non-stop, OR to burn very brightly, OR to do something with a lot of energy.
What does "blaze away" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B2 neutral
To burn with great intensity and brightness for a sustained period.
"The bonfire blazed away long into the night, lighting up the whole field."
inseparable
3 C1 idiomatic informal
To continue doing something with great enthusiasm or energy.
"The journalist blazed away at her article all afternoon and filed it just before the deadline."
inseparable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To blaze (burn fiercely) continuously — relatively transparent.
Actually means
To shoot a gun non-stop, OR to burn very brightly, OR to do something with a lot of energy.
Usage tip
The firing and burning senses are both common in literary and journalistic writing. The 'work energetically' sense is informal and less common. 'Away' adds the sense of sustained, uninterrupted action. More frequent in British English than American English in the burning sense.
Words that pair with "blaze away"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
guns fire flames keyboard questions sun
How to conjugate "blaze away"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
blaze away
I/you/we/they
3rd person
blazes away
he/she/it
Past simple
blazed away
yesterday
Past participle
blazed away
have + pp
-ing form
blazing away
continuous
Hear "blaze away" in the wild
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Keep exploring
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