ache
(Informal)
[verb]
Synonyms:
- hurt, pain, pound, smart, suffer, throb, twinge
[noun]
Synonyms:
- pain, hurt, pang, pounding, soreness, suffering, throbbing

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Contrasted words: alleviation, assuagement, mitigation, relief, comfort, ease
Related Words: deplore, sorrow (over), comfort, console, solace, injury, rack

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English Thesaurus: hurt, ache, throb, sting, smart, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. ache¹ /eɪk/ verb [intransitive]
[Language: Old English; Origin: acan]

1. if part of your body aches, you feel a continuous, but not very sharp pain there Synonym : hurt:
His feet were aching from standing so long.

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In everyday English, people usually say they have a headache, have (a) backache, have (a) stomach ache, or have (a) toothache rather than saying that their head, back, etc aches:
■ My head aches terribly. ➔ I have a terrible headache.

2. to want to do or have something very much
ache for
I’m aching for sleep.
ache to do something
He ached to reach out and hold her close.

3. to have a strong unhappy feeling
ache with
Sarah ached with sadness that her brother was so ill.
Tim’s heart was aching for her.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. ache² noun [countable]

1. a continuous pain that is not sharp or very strong:
a stomach ache
A dull ache throbbed at the back of David’s head.
aches and pains (=slight feelings of pain that are not considered to be serious)
Apart from the usual aches and pains, she felt all right.

2. a strong, mostly unhappy, feeling:
the ache of his loneliness
—achy adjective:
I’m feeling tired and achy.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

ache
noun
I. physical pain
ADJ. dull, nagging, throbbing | familiar | muscular, stomach, tummy
VERB + ACHE be aware of, feel I felt the familiar ache in my lower back.
ease He changed his position once again to ease the ache in his back.
ACHE + VERB throb A dull ache throbbed at the back of David's head.
PREP. ~ in a nagging ache in her knee
PHRASES aches and pains He was always complaining about his various aches and pains.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

ache
II. great sorrow
ADJ. deep, dull, nagging
VERB + ACHE feel, have She kept feeling the nagging ache in her heart.
PREP. ~ in She could hardly speak for the ache in her heart.
~ inside, ~ of the ache of loneliness inside him

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

ache
verb
ADV. badly, really My feet ached badly.
a bit My left foot ached a bit.
PREP. from I still really ache from all that cycling yesterday.
PHRASES ache all over Her head felt hot and she was aching all over.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

ache
noun
BAD: After the run, I had an ache in my legs.
GOOD: After the run, my legs were aching.

Usage Note:
Ache is usually used either as a verb or in compounds with tooth, ear, head, back, stomach : 'I did some weight training on Monday and my shoulders have been aching ever since.' 'That radio of yours is giving me a headache.'
Compare: 'After the run, I had pains in my legs.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

hurt if part of your body hurts, it feels painful:
My chest hurts when I cough.
ache to hurt with a continuous pain:
I’d been walking all day and my legs were really aching.
throb to feel a bad pain that comes and goes again in a regular and continuous way:
Lou had a terrible headache and his whole head seemed to be throbbing.
sting to feel a sharp pain, or to make someone feel this, especially in your eyes, throat, or skin:
My throat stings every time I swallow.
This injection may sting a little.
smart to hurt with a sudden sharp pain – used especially about your eyes, or your skin where something has hit you:
Her eyes were smarting from the thick smoke.
Jackson’s face was still smarting from the punch.
burn to feel very hot and painful or uncomfortable:
Be careful because this chemical will make your skin burn.
His eyes were burning because of the gas.
pinch if something you are wearing pinches you, it is too tight and presses painfully on your skin:
The shirt was a bit too small and it was pinching my neck.
something is killing me spoken informal used when something feels very painful:
My legs are killing me.
These shoes are killing me.
a bad back/leg/arm etc if you have a bad back/leg/arm etc, it feels painful:
He’s off work with a bad back.
pain noun [uncountable and countable] the feeling when part of your body hurts:
A broken leg can cause a lot of pain.
He felt a sharp pain in his chest.
twinge noun [countable] a sudden slight pain that comes and then disappears quickly:
When I bent down I felt a twinge in my back.
discomfort noun [uncountable] formal an uncomfortable feeling in your body, or a slight pain:
The procedure takes five minutes and only causes slight discomfort.
agony noun [uncountable] a feeling of great pain, or a situation in which you feel a lot of pain:
the agony of childbirth
I was in agony by the time I got to the hospital.
It was agony (=very painful)getting up out of bed.
suffering noun [uncountable] continuous physical or mental pain, which makes someone very unhappy:
I just wanted someone to put an end to my suffering.
the suffering of the earthquake victims

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

hurt to damage part of your body, or someone else’s body:
She slipped on the ice and hurt herself badly.
Be careful you don’t hurt anyone with that knife.
injure to hurt yourself quite severely, or to be hurt in an accident or fighting:
One of our players has injured his leg, and will be out of the game for weeks.
Four people have been seriously injured on the Arizona highway.
wound to deliberately hurt someone using a weapon such as a knife or gun:
The gunmen shot and killed twelve people and wounded three others.
maim /meɪm/ [usually passive] to hurt someone very severely, especially so that they lose an arm, leg etc, often as the result of an explosion:
In countries where there are landmines, people are killed and maimed daily.
break to hurt a part of your body by breaking a bone in it:
The X-ray showed that I had broken my wrist.
bruise to hurt a part of your body when you fall on it or hit it, causing a dark mark to appear on your skin:
Cathy fell off her bike and bruised her legs badly.
sprain/twist to hurt your knee, wrist, shoulder etc by suddenly twisting it while you are moving:
I jumped down from the wall and landed awkwardly, spraining my ankle.
strain/pull to hurt one of your muscles by stretching it or using it too much:
When you are lifting heavy loads, be careful not to strain a back muscle.
dislocate to damage a joint in your body in a way that moves the two parts of the joint out of their normal position:
Our best batsman dislocated his shoulder during training.
paralyse [usually passive] to make someone lose the ability to move part or all of their body:
A climbing accident had left him paralysed from the chest down.
ache to hurt with a continuous pain:
I’d been walking all day and my legs were really aching.
throb to feel a bad pain that comes and goes again in a regular and continuous way:
Lou had a terrible headache and his whole head seemed to be throbbing.
sting to feel a sharp pain, or to make someone feel this, especially in your eyes, throat, or skin:
My throat stings every time I swallow.
This injection may sting a little.
smart to hurt with a sudden sharp pain – used especially about your eyes, or your skin where something has hit you:
Her eyes were smarting from the thick smoke.
Jackson’s face was still smarting from the punch.
burn to feel very hot and painful or uncomfortable:
Be careful because this chemical will make your skin burn.
His eyes were burning because of the gas.
pinch if something you are wearing pinches you, it is too tight and presses painfully on your skin:
The shirt was a bit too small and it was pinching my neck.
something is killing me spoken informal used when something feels very painful:
My legs are killing me.
These shoes are killing me.
a bad back/leg/arm etc if you have a bad back/leg/arm etc, it feels painful:
He’s off work with a bad back.
upset [not before noun] unhappy and worried because something unpleasant or disappointing has happened:
Miss Hurley is too upset to speak to anyone at the moment.
She’s still deeply upset about her uncle’s death.
He’s upset that he didn’t get an invitation to their wedding.
distressed very upset:
Priests have been counselling distressed relatives of the victims.
She was visibly distressed after hearing of her husband’s accident.
Matilda was too distressed to speak.
distraught written so upset and worried that you are unable to do normal things, and nothing can make you feel calm:
Benson was so distraught over the breakup of his marriage that he felt like committing suicide.
The distraught parents of the missing baby have made a public appeal for her return.
in a (terrible) state British English informal so upset that you cannot stop crying:
She called me one night in a terrible state, saying she wanted to die.
I could see that she was in a bit of a state.
be worked up informal to be very upset or angry, so that you think things are worse than they really are:
I was too worked up to sleep.
It’s not worth getting worked up about. Anyone can make a mistake.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

pain noun [uncountable and countable] the feeling when part of your body hurts:
A broken leg can cause a lot of pain.
He felt a sharp pain in his chest.
ache noun [uncountable and countable] a continuous pain, especially one that is not very bad. Most commonly used in compounds such as headache, toothache, and backache:
I felt an ache in my back after decorating all day.
Driving gives me a headache.
I’ve got stomach ache.
Do you have earache?
twinge noun [countable] a sudden slight pain that comes and then disappears quickly:
When I bent down I felt a twinge in my back.
discomfort noun [uncountable] formal an uncomfortable feeling in your body, or a slight pain:
The procedure takes five minutes and only causes slight discomfort.
agony noun [uncountable] a feeling of great pain, or a situation in which you feel a lot of pain:
the agony of childbirth
I was in agony by the time I got to the hospital.
It was agony (=very painful)getting up out of bed.
suffering noun [uncountable] continuous physical or mental pain, which makes someone very unhappy:
I just wanted someone to put an end to my suffering.
the suffering of the earthquake victims

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲