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:
Angurweet is used as a remedy for ailments including stomach ache.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
"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
That mix of discouragement and discontent surfaced repeatedly, like a dull ache, in conversations with dozens of voters across the San Gabriel Valley.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026
In the back of his mind, Nathan felt a gnawing fear that made his knees weak and his spine ache.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
“There’s a lot of us kind of limping toward the end here, a lot of aches and pains this year.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
The daughter of another medbed believer recalled her mother’s words: We won’t have those aches and pains anymore; your dad’s heart will be better.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
So, does that mean Ohtani feels like he could be more up-front with the team about his physical well-being, regardless of whether he thinks he can play through aches and pains?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Suede frontman Brett Anderson describes the band's 10th album as "broken music for broken people", and the music aches for connection in a technological age that feels increasingly disconnected.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
He prescribed the bark infusions for her aches but said to her, "Such pain comes for us all, in great age."
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
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
Quiroz, on the advice of a therapist, cried with him, explaining that she, too, ached with pain.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
Those ached more than stung and left me completely voiceless for the following 24 hours.
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2026
Then I yelled, “You stupid old tree!” and I kicked its trunk as hard as I could so my foot ached something fierce, but I didn’t even whimper.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
My aching nostalgia isn’t limited to how the White House used to operate.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
“That innocuous little essay untangled some aching knot inside me,” she writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
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
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.
