ache

[ eyk ]

verb (used without object)

, ached, ach·ing.

1. to have or suffer a continuous, dull pain:

   His whole body ached.

   Synonyms: hurt

2. to feel great sympathy, pity, or the like:

   Her heart ached for the starving animals.

3. to feel eager; yearn; long:

   She ached to be the champion. He's just aching to get even.

noun

1. a continuous, dull pain (in contrast to a sharp, sudden, or sporadic pain).

ache

/ eɪk /

verb

1. to feel, suffer, or be the source of a continuous dull pain
2. to suffer mental anguish

noun

1. a continuous dull pain

Derived Forms

• ˈachingly, adverb
• ˈaching, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ache¹

before 900; (v.) Middle English aken, Old English acan; perhaps metaphoric use of earlier unattested sense “drive, impel” (compare Old Norse aka, cognate with Latin agere, Greek ágein ); (noun) derivative of the v.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ache¹

Old English ācan (vb), æce (n), Middle English aken (vb), ache (n). Compare bake , batch

Synonym Study

See pain.

Example Sentences

As a now-firmly middle-aged person with the aches that entails, crossovers are easy to get into and out of than low-slung cars.

From Ars Technica

Bonnie Lippe figured the aches and fever she and others in her tour group were experiencing was related to the rich food or the drinking water.

From Washington Post

Families could safely spend holidays together again if the worst-case scenario shifted from being put on a ventilator or dying to possible fever and body aches.

From Washington Post

Low-effort and gentle on the stomach, it’s embraced as a go-to for belly aches, colds, or days of general discomfort.

From Eater

Its dense EPP foam was made to smooth away aches and pains, and that’s exactly what it does.

From Outside Online

He was a magician, an invisible teller of tales with the power to make my sides ache without telling a single joke.

From The Daily Beast

Around 3am, my spindly legs are beginning to ache from balancing on deck, as we heel with each tack.

From The Daily Beast

But the ache got worse and worse and the next time I fell I couldn't pick him up again, so I dragged him home by the leg.

From The Daily Beast

I moved him from one shoulder to the other, trying to get rid of the ache in the muscles.

From The Daily Beast

Thinking about some problems is so hard that it can make your head ache just thinking about thinking about them.

From The Daily Beast

And a rampant ache in my head, seconded by a medium-sized gash in the scalp, didn't make for an access of optimism at that moment.

From Project Gutenberg

It sent a pleasant tingle through his veins and made that injured arm of his ache again.

From Project Gutenberg

She was very glib with the sheep and the geese, but the grindstone made her head ache, and she gave it up.

From Project Gutenberg

I could bear it if I were the only one, but to think that I must make somebodys heart ache as mine does!

From Project Gutenberg

Oh, how it makes a poor fellow's back ache, to stoop down and weed onions for half a day.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• anguish
• misery
• pang
• soreness
• spasm
• twinge