varicose vein

Noun

varicose vein (plural varicose veins)

1. An abnormally swollen or dilated vein.
   • Back there in the rolling, olive-clad hills is a splendid region of whose existence most of the visitors to the Riviera are unaware. There are no garish restaurants or casinos, no hot doggeries or Slopsy-kola signs, no half-naked women or twitching varicose veins being paraded.1960, Stephen Lister [pseudonym; Digby George Gerahty], chapter 12, in In Search of Paradise, London: Peter Davies, →OCLC, page 162
2. (in plural) The medical condition of having such veins, especially in the legs.