blaze a trail

Idioms  

1. 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]

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Example Sentences

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

“I hope I can kind of blaze a trail for them to one day say, hey, because Josh Sims did it, I can do it, too. And that’s what’s important.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2023

When will Santos blaze a trail to join her?

From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2023

Maybe we can blaze a trail from here to the nearest ranch on our way home, and send some one from there to come and cart the brute home for us.

From Polly of Pebbly Pit by Roy, Lillian Elizabeth