Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for hives. Search instead for huswives.
Synonyms

hives

American  
[hahyvz] / haɪvz /

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

  1. any of various eruptive conditions of the skin, as the wheals of urticaria.

hives British  
/ haɪvz /

noun

  1. (functioning as singular or plural) pathol a nontechnical name for urticaria

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
hives Scientific  
/ hīvz /

  1. A skin condition characterized by transient, itching welts, usually resulting from an allergic reaction.

hives Cultural  

  1. A condition characterized by the sudden appearance of red, raised areas on the skin that itch severely. Hives may be caused by an allergic reaction (see allergy) to foods or other substances.

Etymology

Origin of hives

First recorded in 1490–1500; originally Scots; of obscure origin

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Novartis said the drug offers a differentiated mechanism that, if confirmed clinically, could support earlier symptom relief, stronger disease control and more convenient dosing across food allergy, hives, allergic asthma and other diseases.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

By 1947 commercial beekeepers were moving their hives miles away; smog was killing the bees, or making them crazy so they couldn’t find their way back home.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

Cities are squalid crime hives that need to be tamed or abandoned in the Sheridanverse, whereas small towns and Western vistas are quaint canvases fertile with possibility.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2026

She also develops hives and a rash when coming out of water, whether from a swimming pool, the shower, or the sea, regardless of the outside temperature.

From BBC • Jan. 19, 2026

He had six goats and five hives of bees and a flock of chickens and a herd of geese and a pair of cardinals that stayed near his house the whole year around.

From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.