ache

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A dull, steady pain.

   After the long flight I had a dull ache in my back.

2. 2
   verb

   To feel a continuous dull pain.

   My feet ached for days after the marathon.

3. 3
   verb

   To want something or someone very much.

   She ached for home during her first weeks abroad.

Common collocations

• stomach ache Noun + 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), both from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eg- (“sin, crime”). 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…

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images