ache
verb (used without object)
to have or suffer a continuous, dull pain.
had been aching
-
past perfect progressiveof ache.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
Something in Montaigne’s voice, the particular texture of its introspection, opened a vein that had been aching to pop.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 6, 2014
The Deseret News, which had been aching to even the score with the Tribune,* knew just how to react: it plastered self-congratulations all over the paper.
From Time Magazine Archive
Although he wouldn't have confessed it for any reason, his leg had been aching dully for hours.
From Ralestone Luck by James S. Reid
She had been aching for the old intimacy with Joan, more than ever now that such wonderful things were happening to her, and she had to keep them uncomfortably locked up in her own breast.
From The Honour of the Clintons by Archibald Marshall
Helen did not say that her heart had been aching all the way.
From The End of the Rainbow by Mary Esther Miller MacGregor
