ache
Americanverb (used without object)
-
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
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.
Cologne took the lead thanks to an incredible bicycle kick from Ragnar Ache but Hoffenheim hit back either side of the break to take the lead thanks to goals from Ozan Kabak and Andrej Kramaric.
From Barron's • Feb. 21, 2026
He resigned after audios were revealed in which he appears to call on former deputy Foreign Minister Carolina Ache to not hand over her phone to investigators.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 1, 2023
Dyer, who plays Mick Carter in EastEnders, will feature in the two closing productions from January 2019 - staring alongside Freeman in A Dumb Waiter before appearing in A Slight Ache.
From BBC • May 11, 2018
A Slight Ache A married couple’s life is upended by a mysterious stranger in Harold Pinter’s tragicomedy.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2016
Knells now the dewdrop to its fall, The sad wind sleeps no more to rove; Rest, for my arms ambrosial Ache for thy love!
From Henry Brocken His Travels and Adventures in the Rich, Strange, Scarce-Imaginable Regions of Romance by De la Mare, Walter
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.
