ache
Americanverb (used without object)
-
aches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ached,
past participle, past
-
aching
present participle
-
to have or suffer a continuous, dull pain.
His whole body ached.
- Synonyms:
- hurt
-
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
-
aches
plural
verb
-
to feel, suffer, or be the source of a continuous dull pain
-
to suffer mental anguish
noun
Synonym Usage
See pain.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
achesimple
-
achessimple
-
have achedperfect
-
has achedperfect
-
am achingprogressive
-
are achingprogressive
-
is achingprogressive
-
have been achingperfect progressive
-
has been achingperfect progressive
Past
-
achedsimple
-
had achedperfect
-
was achingprogressive
-
were achingprogressive
-
had been achingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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.
Explanation
An ache is a dull, lingering pain. An ache in your calves after your morning jog might mean you didn't stretch enough before you started running. You might describe your discomfort as a head ache or a stomach ache — in either case, there's a throbbing or continuous pain. A non-physical hurt can also be called an ache, and you can use the word as a verb in either case: "It feels like my heart will ache forever, since my sweet cat died." The Old English root is acan, "to suffer pain," possibly from an imitative Proto-Indo-European word that sounds like a groan.
Vocabulary lists containing ache
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"It's tough work... the hardest part is carrying the seaweed back. It's very heavy and your shoulders ache afterwards."
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Good TV is the product of many hands working harmoniously to merge visuals, writing and performance into stories that breathe, laugh and ache along with you.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
She presents her daughter’s sudden death in crisp, often tart prose that cannot mask the ache that lurks beneath the surface.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
In retrospect, taken collectively, much of McCarthy’s work as an actor, filmmaker and journalist hinges on the friendship motif — that primordial ache to belong, that yearning to be seen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
But now, even the ends of his fur seemed to ache from the exertion of paddling.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Freeman did not undergo any imaging on his various aches and pains, although he said head athletic trainer Thomas Albert asked if he felt like he needed any.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
These include repeatedly waking up throughout the night to relieve himself and "stomach aches real bad".
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
The researchers emphasized that their work focuses only on serious muscle disorders that result in hospital admission or death, not the milder muscle aches and pains that some people experience.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026
Though he is sometimes turned off by the tangy and pungent taste of sauerkraut, he found the diet helped him shed fat, and reduced aches and pains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Tata was sometimes dependable, but just as often she was incoherent, or laid up with aches and pains.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
She wrote that her heart ached most looking at a poster her three children made when they were young.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Before Edward and Bella took over the world, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” viewers ached for David Boreanaz’s Angel and James Marsters’ Spike, centuries-old bros who fall for a very special high school blonde.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
Those ached more than stung and left me completely voiceless for the following 24 hours.
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2026
Cordova had been working on a Mexican American project, but he ached to create a story that specifically reflected his Ecuadorean background.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
One question ached through all of Holland like a long-held breath: would there be war?
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
As the Aedes aegypti mosquito expanded its range across more of the Americas, it brought with it the delirium, jaundice, and aching joints of yellow fever.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
"My shifts at work landed on the same days, too. During my morning shower, I felt faint; I had to be realistic and call in sick. My body was completely exhausted, aching and cramping."
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Plus, Jessie, still voiced with such beautiful feeling by Joan Cusack, owns “Toy Story 5,” with the movie even revisiting the aching piano notes of “When She Loved Me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
After leaving an interview with Andy Cohen at SiriusXM’s studio, she slides back into her seat and removes her sky-high Louboutin stilettos, taking stock of her aching feet: “That’s going to suck later.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Anya struggled to the shore, shivering and aching all over.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
