headache

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head·ache

(hĕd′āk′)

1. A pain in the head.

2. Informal Something, such as a problem, that causes annoyance or trouble.

head′ach′y (-ā′kē) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

headache

(ˈhɛdˌeɪk)

1. (Pathology) pain in the head, caused by dilation of cerebral arteries, muscle contraction, insufficient oxygen in the cerebral blood, reaction to drugs, etc. Technical name: cephalalgia

2. informal any cause of worry, difficulty, or annoyance

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

head•ache

(ˈhɛdˌeɪk)

n.

1. a pain located in the head, as over the eyes, at the temples, or at the base of the skull.

2. an annoying or bothersome person, situation, activity, etc.

[before 1000]

headache

cephalgia, encephalalgia - Cephalgia and encephalalgia are medical terms for a headache.
megrim - Another word for a headache, especially a migraine.
shivaree - A mock serenade, it originally meant "headache" in its Latin form.
neurasthenia - A disorder characterized by loss of energy, lack of motivation, and feelings of inadequacy, along with vague physical symptoms such as headache or muscle pain.

headache

If you have a headache, you have a pain in your head.

I told Derek I had a headache.

Headache is a countable noun. Don't say that someone 'has headache'.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

headache

Any pain in the head. Many factors that affect the nervous system can produce a headache, including damage to the brain and its blood vessels, infection of the ears, eyes, and nose, and tension in muscles that results in a constriction of their nerves.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	headache - something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness; "New York traffic is a constant concern"; "it's a major worry" worry, vexation, concern negative stimulus - a stimulus with undesirable consequences bugaboo - a source of concern; "the old bugaboo of inflation still bothers them" burden, encumbrance, onus, incumbrance, load - an onerous or difficult concern; "the burden of responsibility"; "that's a load off my mind" business - a rightful concern or responsibility; "it's none of your business"; "mind your own business"
	2.	headache - pain in the head caused by dilation of cerebral arteries or muscle contractions or a reaction to drugs cephalalgia, head ache ache, aching - a dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain cluster headache, histamine headache - a painful recurring headache associated with the release of histamine from cells hemicrania, megrim, migraine, sick headache - a severe recurring vascular headache; occurs more frequently in women than men sick headache - a headache accompanied by nausea sinus headache - a headache resulting from congestion or infection in the paranasal sinuses tension headache - a headache located at the back of the head; usually caused by body tension resulting from overwork or psychological stress

headache

noun

1. migraine, head (informal), neuralgia, cephalalgia (Medical) I have had a terrible headache for the past two days.

2. problem (Informal) worry, trouble, bother, nuisance, inconvenience, bane, vexation Their biggest headache is the increase in the price of fuel.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

headache

noun

Informal. A duty or responsibility that is a source of anxiety, worry, or hardship:

burden, millstone, onus, tax, weight.

Translations

شيءٌ مٌقْلِقصداعصُدَاعوَجَع رأس

bolest hlavyproblémbolení hlavy

hovedpinebekymring

Kopfschmerzen Kopfweh Problem Kopfschmerz

πονοκέφαλος κεφαλαλγία

dolor de cabeza quebradero de cabeza cefalalgia cefalea

päänsärky

mal de tête casse-tête

glavobolja

fejfájásgondnyűgbosszúság

höfuîverkurhöfuîverkur, áhyggjuefni

mal di testa grattacapo emicrania

頭痛

두통

hoofdpijn

hodepine hodeverk hodebry

ból głowy problem zmartwienie

dor de cabeçaenchaqueca

головная боль

glavobol

huvudvärk

ปวดหัว

baş ağrısı dert

chứng nhức đầu

使头痛的事头疼头痛

headache

[ˈhedeɪk] N

1. (= pain) → dolor m de cabeza; (= sick headache) → jaqueca f

2. (= problem) → quebradero m de cabeza, dolor m de cabeza
that's his headache → allá él

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

headache

[ˈhɛdeɪk] n

(= pain) → mal m de tête
to have a headache → avoir mal à la tête
I've got a headache → J'ai mal à la tête.

(= problem) → problème m
to be a headache for sb → être un problème pour qn

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

headache

[ˈhɛdˌeɪk] n (pain) → mal m di testa (fig) → grattacapo
to have a headache → avere mal di testa

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

head

(hed) noun

1. the top part of the human body, containing the eyes, mouth, brain etc; the same part of an animal's body. The stone hit him on the head; He scratched his head in amazement.

2. a person's mind. An idea came into my head last night.

3. the height or length of a head. The horse won by a head.

4. the chief or most important person (of an organization, country etc). Kings and presidents are heads of state; (also adjective) a head waiter; the head office.

5. anything that is like a head in shape or position. the head of a pin; The boy knocked the heads off the flowers.

6. the place where a river, lake etc begins. the head of the Nile.

7. the top, or the top part, of anything. Write your address at the head of the paper; the head of the table.

8. the front part. He walked at the head of the procession.

9. a particular ability or tolerance. He has no head for heights; She has a good head for figures.

10. a headmaster or headmistress. You'd better ask the Head.

11. (for) one person. This dinner costs $10 a head.

12. a headland. Beachy Head.

13. the foam on the top of a glass of beer etc.

verb

1. to go at the front of or at the top of (something). The procession was headed by the band; Whose name headed the list?

2. to be in charge of; to be the leader of. He heads a team of scientists investigating cancer.

3. (often with for) to (cause to) move in a certain direction. The explorers headed south; The boys headed for home; You're heading for disaster!

4. to put or write something at the beginning of. His report was headed `Ways of Preventing Industrial Accidents'.

5. (in football) to hit the ball with the head. He headed the ball into the goal.

-headed

having (a certain number or type of) head(s). a two-headed monster; a bald-headed man.

ˈheader noun

1. a fall or dive forwards. He slipped and took a header into the mud.

2. (in football) the act of hitting the ball with the head. He scored with a great header.

ˈheading noun

what is written at the top of a page etc. The teacher said that essays must have a proper heading.

heads noun, adverb

(on) the side of a coin with the head of a king, president etc on it. He tossed the penny and it came down heads.

ˈheadache noun

1. a pain in the head. Bright lights give me a headache.

2. something worrying. Lack of money is a real headache.

ˈheadband noun

a strip of material worn round the head to keep one's hair off one's face.

ˈhead-dress noun

something, usually ornamental, which is worn on, and covers, the head. The tribesmen were wearing head-dresses of fur and feathers.

ˌheadˈfirst adverb

with one's head in front or bent forward. He fell headfirst into a pool of water.

ˈheadgear noun

anything that is worn on the head. Hats, caps and helmets are headgear.

ˈheadlamp noun

a headlight.

ˈheadland noun

a point of land which sticks out into the sea.

ˈheadlight noun

a powerful light at or on the front of a car, lorry, train, ship, aeroplane etc. As it was getting dark, the driver switched on his headlights.

ˈheadline noun

the words written in large letters at the top of newspaper articles. I never read a paper in detail – I just glance at the headlines.

ˈheadlines noun plural

a brief statement of the most important items of news, on television or radio. the news headlines.

ˈheadlong adjective, adverb

1. moving forwards or downwards, with one's head in front. a headlong dive into the pool of water; He fell headlong into a pool of water.

2. (done) without thought or delay, often foolishly. a headlong rush; He rushes headlong into disaster.

head louse

a type of louse that infests the human head.

headˈmaster – feminine headˈmistress – noun

the person in charge of a school; the principal.

ˌhead-ˈon adverb, adjective

(usually of cars etc) with the front of one car etc hitting the front of another car etc. a head-on collision; The two cars crashed head-on.

ˈheadphones noun plural

(also ˈearphones) a pair of electronic instruments held over a person's ears, by a metal band over the head, which are connected to a radio. a set of headphones.

ˌheadˈquarters noun singular or plural

(often abbreviated to HQ (eitʃˈkjuː) noun) the place from which the chief officers or leaders of an organization (especially an army) direct and control the activities of that organization. During the election, his house was used as the campaign headquarters.

ˈheadrest noun

a sort of small cushion which supports a person's head, eg as fitted to a dentist's chair, a car seat.

ˈheadscarf, ˈheadsquare nouns

a usually square scarf worn by women over or round the head.

ˈheadstone noun

a stone put at a grave, usually with the name of the dead person on it, the date of his birth and death etc.

ˈheadstrong adjective

(of people) difficult to persuade or control; always doing or wanting to do what they themselves want. a headstrong, obstinate child.

ˈheadwind noun

a wind which is blowing towards one.

above someone's head

too difficult (for someone) to understand. His lecture was well above their heads.

go to someone's head

1. (of alcohol) to make someone slightly drunk. Champagne always goes to my head.

2. (of praise, success etc) to make someone arrogant, foolish etc. Don't let success go to your head.

head off

1. to make (a person, animal etc) change direction. One group of the soldiers rode across the valley to head the bandits off.

2. to go in some direction. He headed off towards the river.

head over heels

1. completely. He fell head over heels in love.

2. turning over completely; headfirst. He fell head over heels into a pond.

heads or tails?

used when tossing a coin, eg to decide which of two people does, gets etc something. Heads or tails? Heads you do the dishes, tails I do them.

keep one's head

to remain calm and sensible in a crisis etc.

lose one's head

to become angry or excited, or to act foolishly in a crisis.

make head or tail of

to understand. I can't make head or tail of these instructions.

make headway

to make progress. We're not making much headway with this new scheme.

off one's head

mad. You must be off your head to work for nothing.

headache

→ صُدَاع bolení hlavy hovedpine Kopfschmerzen πονοκέφαλος dolor de cabeza päänsärky mal de tête glavobolja mal di testa 頭痛 두통 hoofdpijn hodepine ból głowy dor de cabeça головная боль huvudvärk ปวดหัว baş ağrısı chứng nhức đầu 头疼

head·ache

n. cefalalgia, dolor de cabeza, jaqueca.

I'd like something for a headache → Chtěl bych něco na bolest hlavy → Deme algo para el dolor de cabeza → Haluaisin jotain päänsärkyyn → Molim vas nešto protiv glavobolje → 두통약 좀 주세요 → Ik wil graag iets tegen hoofdpijn → Jeg vil gjerne ha noe mot hodepine → Poproszę coś na ból głowy → 我要买点头痛药

headache

n cefalea (form), dolor m de cabeza; cluster — cefalea en racimos, dolores de cabeza que ocurren repetidivamente durante una o varias semanas; migraine — migraña, jaqueca; tension — cefalea tensional, dolor de cabeza por tensión

References in classic literature ?

Once he dared, one afternoon, when he found her in the darkened living room with a blinding headache.

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Pollyanna was not sorry to hear Aunt Polly tell the minister's wife over the telephone, a little later, that she would not be at the Ladies' Aid meeting that afternoon, owing to a headache. When Aunt Polly went up-stairs to her room and closed the door, Pollyanna tried to be sorry for the headache; but she could not help feeling glad that her aunt was not to be present that afternoon when she laid the case of Jimmy Bean before the Ladies' Aid.

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"Look here, if you had a headache on Sunday evening and offered to stay at home and look after the house, Aunt Louisa would go to church."

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B has got a bad headache. She is subject to bad headaches.

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My headache was no better, and the surgeon paused from his work long enough to give me a powerful drug that would depress the heart and bring relief.

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"I do truly wish I could have had the headache in your place, Marilla.

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At dinner he asked the hunters for a remedy for headache, and by evening, strong man that he was, he was half-blind and reeling about the cabin.

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When Augustine, pale as death, was found lying on the sofa, and pleaded sudden sick-headache as the cause of his distress, she recommended to him to smell of hartshorn; and when the paleness and headache came on week after week, she only said that she never thought Mr.

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She talked even more than usual, and though she spoke of a headache, she declined all remedies.

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I must go and develop a headache at once, or that tiresome Dalkeith boy will be pounding at my door."

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Who will wonder that Barbara had a headache, or that Barbara's mother was disposed to be cross, or that she slightly underrated Astley's, and thought the clown was older than they had taken him to be last night?

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As soon as the former lady had got better of her headache, he waited upon her in her apartment; and, after the proper inquiries in regard to her health, he asked her if she had observed in the hotel an American family--a mamma, a daughter, and a little boy.