as in aches
a sharp unpleasant sensation usually felt in some specific part of the body
those hunger pangs that strike you in the middle of the afternoon
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Recent Examples of pangs
Maia Niguel Hoskin, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Poor people know the intimate, badgering pangs of hunger, but in Ireland, the memory of the 1845-1848 Famine—the Great Hunger, when one million died from starvation and disease, and another million emigrated—still aches.
—Philip Metres
august 27, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025
Ah, let’s brush away these pangs of insecurity.
—Oliver Kay, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2025
Verb
After all, who wants to feel the pangs of self-doubt, anxiety, or chronic stress?
—Maia Niguel Hoskin, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Poor people know the intimate, badgering pangs of hunger, but in Ireland, the memory of the 1845-1848 Famine—the Great Hunger, when one million died from starvation and disease, and another million emigrated—still aches.
—Philip Metres
august 27, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025
Ah, let’s brush away these pangs of insecurity.
—Oliver Kay, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pangs
Noun
-
Yet, the new Terminal 1 has several stores that take great pains to include local flair.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Sep. 2025
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The movie is, in part, about the labor pains of its creator, the screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.—
Jennifer Wilson,
New Yorker,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Their knee aches subsided on the very first day of wearing the Lone Peak 7 sneakers.—
Olivia Young,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Sep. 2025
-
Flu symptoms can include aches, cough, fatigue, fever, headache, sore throat and a stuffy or runny nose, according to the CDC.—
Sara Schilling,
Idaho Statesman,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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What hurts me doesn't necessarily hurt another person with the same loss.—
Heather Straughter,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Negative, mean or even well-intended but poorly delivered feedback always hurts.—
Susanne Biro,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The video shows Zarutska sit in a seat in front of Brown, who fixates on her and after several minutes pulls out a knife and stabs her several times in the neck, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.—
Danielle Battaglia,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Sep. 2025
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Harrison stabs Prater with the needle and knocks the billionaire out.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pangs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pangs. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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