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.
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
Gnawing, almost unbearable heartbreak acts as the catalyst for a layered analysis of the ways humans — or, in the case of “The Sheep Detectives,” humans and their woolly friends — ache to forget.
From Salon ● May 25, 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
"I'm at a loss and ache on behalf of our former president," one woman told the BBC.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026
The nerves sent pure fire through me, but it swiftly receded to a dull, constant ache.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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
A milder form of Legionella infection called Pontiac fever can also cause aches and headaches.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
Officials said they are monitoring all cruise passengers for flulike symptoms like fever, body aches, dizziness, cough, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
I have my aches and pains, like everyone.
From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate
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
But it’s worth stressing the takeaway: Redford was always deferential to his leading women, all of whom bloomed and ached in his absence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2025
"My heart ached, and I could only pray: 'God, please don't let that happen.'"
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2025
My limbs still ached from the previous night’s work.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
It seemed like the set was closing with “In the Dark,” an aching ballad from their Venturing side project, plainly declaring “I still dream of us” through a fog of effects.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
My feet were still aching when I boarded my flight home the next day.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
My knee was aching, likely a callback to surgery at 16 to repair torn ligaments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
But Pasbar has followed events in Iran closely, his heart aching as he watched the recent crackdown on protests until he couldn't bear it any longer.
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
Me, clasping tight, holding, feeling the rope burns, my aching arm.
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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.
