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
Related Words
See pain.
Other Word Forms
- aching adjective
- achingly adverb
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.
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.
In small doses, they can cause fever, tiredness and aches, but in large amounts, they can trigger life-threatening conditions like septic shock.
From BBC
The identity of her father is unknown, but she aches for her mother who, as a wayward teenager, quickly handed off newborn Annie to her grandmother before disappearing from their lives.
“Though our hearts ache, we take comfort in God’s promise and in knowing he is finally at peace,” Mary Cosby wrote.
From Los Angeles Times
I was aching all over to have Papa go with me to look for the monkey, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good to ask him.
From Literature
My limbs still ached from the previous night’s work.
From Literature
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.
