Definition of "vein" in English

noun

1. (anatomy) A blood vessel that transports blood from the capillaries back to the heart.

   • The nurse hovered her vein finder to locate the veins in the patient's body.

2. (in the plural) The entrails of a shrimp.

3. (botany) In leaves, a thickened portion of the leaf containing the vascular bundle.

4. (zoology) The nervure of an insect’s wing.

5. A stripe or streak of a different colour or composition in materials such as wood, cheese, marble or other rocks.

6. (geology) A sheetlike body of crystallized minerals within a rock.

7. (figurative) A topic of discussion; a train of association, thoughts, emotions, etc.

   • in the same vein

8. (figurative) A style, tendency, or quality.

   • The play is in a satirical vein.

9. A fissure, cleft, or cavity, as in the earth or other substance.

verb

1. To mark with veins or a vein-like pattern.