Any of the various growing and increasing rapidly degenerative changes in the arteries or blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the other areas of the body: Arteriosclerosis is a result of the thickening of the walls of the blood vessels, a loss of clasticity (separating and dividing), and in some cases, calcium deposition: After a physical examination, Mildred's doctor told her that she had arteriosclerosis involving a diminished elasticity in her arterial walls due to her normal aging processes which is commonly called the "hardening of the arteries".