ache
noun
[ eɪk ]
• a continuous or prolonged dull pain in a part of one's body.
• "the ache in her head worsened"
Similar:
pain,
dull pain,
pang,
twinge,
throb,
gnawing,
stabbing,
sting,
stinging,
spasm,
muscular spasm,
cramp,
convulsion,
smarting,
soreness,
tenderness,
irritation,
discomfort,
ache
verb
• suffer from a continuous dull pain.
• "my legs ached from the previous day's exercise"
Similar:
hurt,
be sore,
be painful,
be in pain,
throb,
pound,
twinge,
smart,
gnaw,
burn,
tingle,
sting,
be uncomfortable,
be tender,
give someone trouble,
play up,
give someone gyp,
painful,
achy,
sore,
stiff,
tender,
uncomfortable,
troublesome,
hurting,
in pain,
throbbing,
pounding,
twingeing,
smarting,
gnawing,
burning,
tingling,
stinging,
agonizing,
searing,
feeling tender,
feeling uncomfortable,
giving someone trouble,
killing,
playing someone up,
giving someone gyp,
Origin:
Old English æce (noun), acan (verb). In Middle English 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’.
