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View synonyms for ache

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

“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

noun

  1. a continuous dull pain

“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
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Other Word Forms

  • aching adjective
  • achingly 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 ágein ); (noun) derivative of the v.
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ache1

Old English ācan (vb), æce (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 are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Fueling our mass mourning’s ache is a lack of knowing who will ignite the next blaze like the one D’Angelo sparked.

Read more on Salon

She also has depression, for which she takes medication, and put the "normal aches and pains" down to running around after her "absolutely crazy" two-year-old son Sebastian.

Read more on BBC

Legs are aching, and the crowd is sprawling back around a quarter-mile from the stage.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Most patients experience a sudden onset of fever, headache, muscle aches, rash, and joint swelling within a few days of being bitten by an infected mosquito.

Read more on Science Daily

And Ibrahim, an unmarried psychologist, is achingly lonely: “Murders are all well and good, but who does he have?”

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