ache

[eyk]

verb (used without object)

ached, aching 

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

Other Word Forms

• aching adjective
• achingly adverb

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

I lost something, I sold it, I only remember the ache.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The achingly slow pitch at a club ground is probably not the best preparation for playing at the Optus.

Read more on BBC

We have brought this lesson back home, where a full nine hours helps soothe the aches and anxieties of age.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Die My Love” seeks the eternal relevance of a film like “A Woman Under the Influence,” which so achingly portrays a mother’s undying love for her children amidst psychological duress.

Read more on Salon

Kennedy was guided below deck, where he broke down in tears, his body drained and aching, his six-foot-one frame wasted to a skeletal 110 pounds.

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• anguish 
• misery 
• pang 
• soreness www.thesaurus.com
• spasm 
• twinge