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Glite Dictionary
giant hives

giant hives

6.5
Large raised red patches on the skin that appear suddenly and usually go away within one day
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒaɪənt haɪvz/
translation icon : urticaria gigante
  • Her doctor diagnosed the sudden swelling as giant hives and prescribed antihistamines.

Examples

  • The patient developed giant hives after taking penicillin for her infection.

  • She developed giant hives after eating shellfish.

  • Stress or certain foods can sometimes trigger episodes of giant hives.

  • The doctor diagnosed him with giant hives.

  • The patient developed giant hives on her arms and legs after a bee sting.

  • Her doctor explained that giant hives can vary in size and may appear overnight.

  • After eating peanuts, he experienced giant hives that lasted for several hours.

Synonyms

hives
vsgiant hives
4.1

Raised itchy red bumps on the skin that appear after an allergic reaction

forms larger swollen skin areas that appear suddenly and fade within a day

How Severe

giant hives
6.5
hives
4.1

Surface Forms

giant hive singular
giant hives plural

Morphology

giant + hives

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'giant' (very large) modifying 'hives' (itchy, red welts); a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to unusually large or extensive hives. This adjectival intensification is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common pattern, so the expression is immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.

Etymology

Giant hives comes from the image of raised bumps on the skin: hives are like a bee 'hive' of little swellings and giant shows they are very large, so the term means 'large, raised, swollen areas of skin'.