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Defintion of the Symptoms of Hives
The Encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine provides the following description of the symptoms of hives or urticaria as it is also known:

• Raised and swollen welts with blanched centers (wheals) that may coalesce to become giant welts. Limited to the superficial portion of the skin
• Angioedema: Similar eruptions to hives, but with larger swollen areas that involve structures beneath the skin
• Chronic versus acute: Recurrent episodes of urticaria and/or angioedema of less than six weeks duration are considered acute, while attacks persisting beyond this period are designated chronic
• Special forms: Special forms have characteristic features (dermographism, cholinergic urticaria, solar urticaria, cold urticarial 

In laymen’s terms hives or urticaria is generally described as a skin condition characterized by itchy white or pink welts or large bumps surrounded with redness called lesions also known as wheal and flare lesions and are caused primarily by the release of histamine (an allergic mediator) in the skin

They are also annoyingly itchy and you will want to do just about anything to stop it or prevent another attack.

If you’ve had hives for more than 6 weeks, you have chronic hives as opposed to the acute hives. 

In about fifty percent of people with hives a deeper more serious form called angioedema develops which affects the tissue below the surface of the skin.

Hives and angioedema are estimated to affect 15% to 20% of all people at some time during their lives. The condition may affect persons in any age group but people in their thirties are most often affected.