Dictionary.com

ache

[ eyk ]
/ eɪk /
Save This Word!
See synonyms for: ache / ached / aching on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), ached, ach·ing.
to have or suffer a continuous, dull pain: His whole body ached.
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).
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of ache

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.

synonym study for ache

4. See pain.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ache in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ache

ache
/ (eɪk) /

verb (intr)
to feel, suffer, or be the source of a continuous dull pain
to suffer mental anguish
noun
a continuous dull pain

Derived forms of ache

aching, adjectiveachingly, adverb

Word Origin for ache

Old English ācan (vb), æce (n), Middle English aken (vb), ache (n). Compare bake, batch
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
FEEDBACK