View synonyms for

ache

[ eyk ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used without object)

ached, aching.

to have or suffer a continuous, dull pain:
His whole body ached.
Synonyms:
to feel great sympathy, pity, or the like:
Her heart ached for the starving animals.
to feel eager; yearn; long:
She ached to be the champion. He's just aching to get even.

noun

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

ache

/ ��ɪ�� /

verb

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

noun

a continuous dull pain

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Derived Forms

ˈ��󾱲Բ�, adjective
ˈ��󾱲Բ�ly, adverb

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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 á��𾱲� ); (noun) derivative of the v.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of ache¹

Old English �峦�� (vb), æ�� (n), Middle English aken (vb), ache (n). Compare bake , batch

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Synonym Study

See pain.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

She told BBC Indonesian at the time that the food, which had given her a stomach ache, was "bland and stale".

From

For Jonathan Anstee, 54, from Surrey, it took his symptoms getting drastically worse for him to book a doctors appointment, after months of stomach aches and blood in his stool.

From

The film is both funny and achingly sad; difficult to get a handle on, as grief so often is.

From

"As we continue through Holy Week, my heart aches for my husband, who should have been here leading our Easter prayers," she told the crowd outside the Maryland courthouse.

From

Two days later, my thighs and glutes still ache.

From

Related Words

Achates Achebe

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