ache
noun/eɪk/
/eɪk/
- (often in compounds) a continuous feeling of pain in a part of the body
- Mummy, I've got a tummy ache.
- Muscular aches and pains can be soothed by a relaxing massage.
- (figurative) an ache in my heart (= a continuous sad feeling)
Extra ExamplesTopics Health problemsa2- He changed his position once again to ease the ache in his back.
- He was always complaining about his various aches and pains.
- I felt the familiar ache in my lower back.
- (figurative) She could hardly speak for the ache in her heart.
- a nagging ache in her knee
- (figurative) the ache of loneliness inside him
- You get more aches and pains as you get older.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- constant
- deep
- dull
- …
- be aware of
- feel
- have
- …
- throb
- ache in
- ache inside
- ache of
- …
- aches and pains
Word OriginOld English æce (noun), acan (verb). In Middle and early modern English the noun was spelled atche and rhymed with ‘batch’ and the verb was spelled and pronounced as it is today. The noun began to be pronounced like the verb around 1700. The modern spelling is largely due to Dr Johnson, who mistakenly assumed its derivation to be from Greek akhos ‘pain’.Definitions on the go
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ache