vein

noun

1. 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.”

   “An vncouth paine torments my grieued ſoule, And death arreſts the organe of my voyce. Who entring at the breach thy ſword hath made, Sackes euery vaine and artier of my heart, […]”

2. (in-plural)The entrails of a shrimp.
3. In leaves, a thickened portion of the leaf containing the vascular bundle.
4. 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. A sheetlike body of crystallized minerals within a rock.

   “They general­ly occur in the earth in what are called veins, and are seldom found in the pure metallic state, but generally in combination with some other substance, in which state they are call­ed ores.”

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

   “in the same vein”

   “He[…]is able to open new scenes, and discover a vein of true and noble thinking.”

   “Come ride with me Through the veins of history, I'll show you how God Falls asleep on the job”

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

   “The play is in a satirical vein.”

   “certain discoursing wits which are of the same veins”

   “Invoke the Muses, and improve my vein.”

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

   “down to the veins of earth”

   “I took another Prism therefore which was free from Veins”

verb

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

   “[…] as he ceased from that wild imprecation, a faint flash of lightning veined the remote horizon, and a low clap of thunder rumbled afar off, echoing among the hills […]”

   ““We brought out our maps of the region and showed him the old routes and trails veining the whole of it. […]””