Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Vein
Vein
,Noun.
[OE.
veine
, F. veine
, L. vena
.] 1.
(Anat.)
One of the vessels which carry blood, either venous or arterial, to the heart. See
Artery
, 2. 2.
(Bot.)
One of the similar branches of the framework of a leaf.
4.
(Geol. or Mining)
A narrow mass of rock intersecting other rocks, and filling inclined or vertical fissures not corresponding with the stratification; a lode; a dike; – often limited, in the language of miners, to a mineral vein or lode, that is, to a vein which contains useful minerals or ores.
5.
A fissure, cleft, or cavity, as in the earth or other substance.
“Down to the veins of earth.” Milton.
Let the glass of the prisms be free from
veins
. Sir I. Newton.
6.
A streak or wave of different color, appearing in wood, and in marble and other stones; variegation.
7.
A train of associations, thoughts, emotions, or the like; a current; a course;
as, reasoning in the same
. vein
He can open a
vein
of true and noble thinking. Swift.
8.
Peculiar temper or temperament; tendency or turn of mind; a particular disposition or cast of genius; humor; strain; quality; also, manner of speech or action;
as, a rich
. vein
of humor; a satirical vein
Shak.
Certain discoursing wits which are of the same
veins
. Bacon.
Invoke the Muses, and improve my
vein
. Waller.
Vein
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Veined
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Veining
.] To form or mark with veins; to fill or cover with veins.
Tennyson.
Webster 1828 Edition
Vein
VEIN
,Noun.
1.
A vessel in animal bodies, which receives the blood from the extreme arteries, and returns it to the heart. The veins may be arranged in three divisions. 1. Those that commence from the capillaries all over the body, and return the blood to the heart. 2. The pulmonary veins. 3. The veins connected with the vena portarum, in which the blood that has circulated through the organs of digestion, is conveyed to the liver.2.
In plants, a tube or an assemblage of tubes, through which the sap is transmitted along the leaves. The term is more properly applied to the finer and more complex ramifications, which interbranch with each other like net-work; the larger and more direct assemblages of vessels being called ribs and nerves. Veins are also found in the calyx and corol of flowers.The vessels which branch or variously divide over the surface of leaves are called veins.
3.
In geology, a fissure in rocks or strata, filled with a particular substance. Thus metallic veins intersect rocks or strata of other substances. Metalliferous veins have been traced in the earth for miles; some in South America are said to have been traced eighty miles. Many species of stones, as granite, porphyry, &c. are often found in veins.4.
A streak or wave of different color, appearing in wood, marble, and other stones; variegation.5.
A cavity or fissure in the earth or in other substance.6.
Tendency or turn of mind; a particular disposition or cast of genius; as a rich vein of wit or humor; a satirical veinInvoke the muses, and improve my vein.
7.
Current.He can open a vein of true and noble thinking.
8.
Humor; particular temper.9.
Strain; quality; as my usual vein.