splitting headache

[ split-ing hed-eyk ]

noun

1. a severe pain felt in the head; an extremely bad headache:

   A few days into the low-carb diet I started to get a splitting headache.

   Unless you want a splitting headache, do not listen to the first track on the album.

Word History and Origins

Origin of splitting headache¹

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

“I was hit all day by doors opening in my face; repeatedly punched, slapped and knocked down by an unlovely and unapologetic Steve Martin — perhaps he was method acting — and came home grumpy with a splitting headache,” she wrote, according to Insider.

From Los Angeles Times

Listen to Yeat for the first time and you may end up bewildered, with a splitting headache and the nihilistic view that modern hit music as we know it is ruined.

From Los Angeles Times

The darkness rolled out as it had rolled in, leaving a splitting headache and sore muscles in its wake.

From Literature

As I sipped, I considered the various mediocre-ritas I’ve encountered — the too-diluted, the cloying, those dragged down by the lemon Pledge flavor of bad sour mix or Splitting Headache brand tequila.

From Washington Post

Both complained of a splitting headache and fever that didn’t respond to the anti-malaria treatment.

From Washington Times