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# ache

noun (an ache, aches); verb (ache, aches, ached, aching)

«ache» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. An ache is a pain that goes on for a long time but is not sharp. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#m1)
2. To ache is to hurt with a dull, steady pain. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#m2)
3. To ache for something is to want it very much. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#m3)

### In the lessons

In health lessons pupils learn names of aches: headache, toothache, stomach ache, earache, backache, and that a long ache should be told to an adult or a doctor. After sport muscles may ache. In stories a heart aches with sadness. Phrases: aches and pains, my legs ache, ache all over.

### Examples

- I have a stomach ache. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#x1)
- My legs ache after the long walk. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#x2)
- She went to the dentist because of a toothache. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#x3)
- Tell a grown-up if your ear aches. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#x4)
- His muscles ached after football. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#x5)
- My head aches when I don't drink enough water. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#x6)
- Grandad has aches and pains in his knees. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#x7)
- Her heart ached when her dog was lost. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#x8)
- I had head-ache and back-ache, and I cannot tell what aches besides. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/#x9)

### Note

Pronounced «ake» — the «ch» sounds like «k». Regular verb (ached). Joined words: headache, toothache, earache, backache (often written as one word); «stomach ache» is two words. «I have a headache» (with «a»). An ache is dull and long; a sharp sudden pain is a «pain» or «sting».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «ache» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ache/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«ache» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/ache.html) on Mova free.