hives

1. 1.

   an itchy skin eruption characterized by weals with pale interiors and well-defined red margins; usually the result of an allergic response to insect bites or food or drugs

   Synonymsurticationurticarianettle rash

   Broaderrashhypersensitivity reaction

Other forms of hives

plural

hiveses·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about hives

What does hives mean?

hives means "an itchy skin eruption characterized by weals with pale interiors and well-defined red margins; usually the result of an allergic response to insect bites or food or drugs".

How many syllables are in hives?

hives has 1 syllable: hives. In IPA it is /ˈhaɪvz/.

What is another word for hives?

Close synonyms include urtication, urticaria, nettle rash. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is hives a common word?

hives is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.