/ayk/ , v. , ached, aching , n.
v.i.
1. to have or suffer a continuous, dull pain: His whole body ached.
2. to feel great sympathy, pity, or the like: Her heart ached for the starving animals.
3. to feel eager; yearn; long: She ached to be the champion. He's just aching to get even.
n.
4. a continuous, dull pain (in contrast to a sharp, sudden, or sporadic pain).
[ bef. 900; (v.) ME aken, OE acan; perh. metaphoric use of earlier unattested sense "drive, impel" (cf. ON aka, c. L agere, Gk ágein ); (n.) deriv. of the v. ]
Syn. 1. hurt. 4. See pain .