ache

1 of 2

verb

ˈāk 

ached; aching

intransitive verb

1

a

: to suffer a usually dull persistent pain

an aching back

b

: to become distressed or disturbed (as with anxiety or regret)

aching with sadness

c

: to feel compassion

My heart aches for those poor people.

2

: to experience a painful eagerness or yearning

He is aching to go.

ache

2 of 2

noun

1

: a usually dull persistent pain

had an ache in his back

2

: a condition marked by aching

looked through the old pictures with a dull ache in her heart

Synonyms

Verb

• hurt
• pain
• smart

Noun

• pain
• pang
• prick
• shoot
• smart
• sting
• stitch
• throe
• tingle
• twinge

Examples of ache in a Sentence

Verb

Her muscles were aching from shoveling snow.

After running the marathon, his body ached for a week.

The candy's so sweet that it makes my teeth ache.

Noun

He had a dull ache in his back from lifting boxes all day.

a dull pounding ache in his head

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The slides are very comfortable and give my foot enough support to not ache at the end of the day! —Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 21 June 2025

Niamh has created a world that feels both thrillingly glamorous and emotionally raw, with characters who ache with ambition, desire, and heartbreak. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 18 June 2025

Noun

Symptoms of West Nile include fever, headache, aches, soreness, joint pain, rash, gastrointestinal symptoms and decreased consciousness. —David Matthews, New York Daily News, 24 June 2025

Symptoms listed by the health agency still include sore throat, cough, fever, chills, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, congestion, runny nose, loss of taste or smell, fatigue, muscle aches, body aches, headache, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. —Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 19 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English aken, going back to Old English acan, of uncertain origin

Note: Originally a Class VI strong verb, to judge by Middle English past tense forms such as eoc, ok, etc. (no preterit forms are attested in Old English). There is no counterpart to the verb in other Germanic languages, and words adduced as possible relatives (e.g., Middle Dutch akel "harm, injury, grief," Middle Low German ēken "to fester") are formally and semantically only vaguely comparable. Regarding the spelling see note at ache entry 2.

Noun

Middle English, going back to Old English æce, ece, noun derivative from the base of acan "to ache entry 1"

Note: The spelling with -ch-, reflecting the historical pronunciation of the noun, has spread to the verb, while the pronunciation of the verb with [k], continued from Old English, has spread to the noun since late Middle English. The persistence of the spelling with -ch- may have been influenced by Samuel Johnson's mistaken notion that the word derived from Greek áchos "pain, distress."

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ache

• ake
• bake
• brake
• break
• cake
• craik
• crake
• fake
• flake
• hake
• jake
• lake

Kids Definition

ache

1 of 2 verb

ˈāk 

ached; aching

1

: to suffer a dull persistent pain

2

: to long painfully : yearn

ache

2 of 2 noun

: a dull persistent pain

achy

ˈā-kē

adjective

Medical Definition

ache

1 of 3 intransitive verb

ˈāk 

ached; aching

: to suffer a usually dull persistent pain

ache

2 of 3 noun

1

: a usually dull persistent pain

2

: a condition marked by aching

AChE

3 of 3 abbreviation

acetylcholinesterase