ache

CEFRB1

/ˈeɪk/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A continuous dull pain in part of the body.

  2. 02

    verb

    To feel a continuous dull pain.

Examples

  • I ache for a sight of the sea.

  • My joints ache when it gets cold.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /eɪt͡ʃ/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Continued dull pain, as distinguished from sudden twinges, or spasmodic pain.

  2. To cause someone or something to suffer pain.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.

More examples

In context

  • My feet were aching for days after the marathon.

  • You may suffer a minor ache in your side.

  • Every muscle in his body ached.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

After running the marathon, my legs began to blank terribly from the exertion.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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). 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 o...