Synonyms

blaze a trail

Idioms

Find a new path or method; begin a new undertaking. For example, His research blazed a trail for new kinds of gene therapy. This expression was first used literally in the 18th century for the practice of marking a forest trail by making blazes, that is, marking trees with notches or chips in the bark. [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

blaze a trail

One of the first to blaze a trail was Alek Wek, scouted in London in the 1990s after her family fled an earlier war.

From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026

People blaze a trail so that other people can walk down it without getting pricked by thorns.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2025

And how did he blaze a trail to become one Britain's first Asian MPs?

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2024

When will Santos blaze a trail to join her?

From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2023

If you wish to blaze a trail correctly, you must place your mark accurately on the right tree and on the right side of the tree.

From Indian Scout Talks A Guide for Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls by Charles A. Eastman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023