ache
verbnounnounnouncommon in dialogue
- //ˈeɪk//
- //eɪt͡ʃ//
To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.
verb
- 1
To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.
My feet were aching for days after the marathon.
Every muscle in his body ached.
By'r lakin, I can goe no further, Sir, / My old bones akes:^([sic]) here's a maze trod indeede / Through fourth rights, & Meanders: / by your patience, I needes muſt reſt me.
And that thing made of ſound and ſhovv / VVhich mortals have miſnamed A Beau, / (But in the language of the ſky / Is call'd a tvvolegg'd butterfly) / VVill make your very heartſtrings ake / VVith loud and everlaſting clack, […]
- 2
rareTo cause someone or something to suffer pain.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English aken (verb), and ache (noun), from Old English acan (verb) (from Proto-West Germanic *akan, from Proto-Germanic *akaną (“to ache”)) and æċe (noun) (from Proto-West Germanic *aki, from Proto-Germanic *akiz), traditionally explained as from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂égos. Cognate with Saterland Frisian eeke, ääke (“to ache, fester”), Low German aken, achen, äken (“to hurt, ache”), German Low German Eek (“inflammation”), North Frisian akelig, æklig (“terrible, miserable, sharp, intense”), West Frisian aaklik (“nasty, horrible, dismal, dreary”), Dutch akelig (“nasty, horrible”). The verb was originally strong, conjugating for tense like take (e.g. I ake, I oke, I have aken), but gradually became weak during Middle English; the noun was originally pronounced as /eɪt͡ʃ/ as spelled (compare breach, from break). Historically the verb was spelled ake, and the noun ache (even after the form /eɪk/ started to become common for the noun; compare again break which is now also a noun). The verb came to be spelled like the noun when lexicographer Samuel Johnson mistakenly assumed that it derived from Ancient Greek ἄχος (ákhos, “pain”) due to the similarity in form and meaning of the two words.
noun
- 1
Continued dull pain, as distinguished from sudden twinges, or spasmodic pain.
You may suffer a minor ache in your side.
The aches and pains died down after taking an analgesic.
Fill all thy bones with aches.
- 2
Emotional suffering causing discomfort and physical pain.
noun
- 1
historicalParsley.
Etymology
From Middle English ache, from Old French ache, from Latin apium (“celery”). Reinforced by modern French ache.
noun
- 1
Variant of aitchrareRare spelling of aitch.
Etymology
Representing the pronunciation of the letter H.
Forms
- plural
- aches
- past tense
- ached, oke
- past participle
- ached, oke, aken
- present participle
- aching
- third person singular
- aches
ache · To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.
Ache · A language spoken by the Yi people of South-Western China.achieve · To carry out or conclude (something, as a task) successfully;…achieved · Having been reached, attained or accomplished.