blazer

Etymology

From blaze + -er. Originates from the 'blazing' scarlet jackets worn by members of Lady Margaret Boat Club, the rowing club associated with St. John's College, Cambridge. Compare Old English blæsere, blasere (“burner, incendiary”, literally “blazer”).

noun

1. A semi-formal jacket.
2. A person or thing that blazes (marks or cuts a route).
3. Anything that blazes or glows, as with heat or flame.
4. The dish used when cooking directly over the flame of a chafing-dish lamp, or the coals of a brazier.
5. (slang, US) One who smokes cannabis; a stoner.
6. (archaic) One who spreads news, or blazes matters abroad.
7. (slang, UK) An older member of a sporting club, often with old-fashioned or conservative views.
8. A con or swindle.
   "What'd I tell you?" said Bill. "The old wolverine was tryin' to run a blazer on us. All he needed was to be showed we meant business. And he can't make no trouble for us when he gets out, 'cause our two words are better'n his." 1922, A. M. Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate
   These folks don't take kindly to no brash stranger comin' in here tryin' to run a blazer on 'em. 2004, Louis L'Amour, Utah Blaine: A Novel
   Bad, he doubtless was. But when he tried to run a blazer on this grim little cowman, Slaughter had run him. 2016, Eugene Cunningham, Triggernometry: A Gallery Of Gunfighters