Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A pain in the head.
- n. Informal Something, such as a problem, that causes annoyance or trouble.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A pain in the cranial part of the head, apparently somewhat deep-seated as compared with the sensation produced by a superficial irritation of the scalp. Apart from trauma, headaches may be produced in various ways, and they are classified mainly by their causes. The following groups may be distinguished: Headaches depending on abnormal states of the blood, as in anemia; or when waste products accumulate in the blood through the inefficiency of the excretory organs, as in Bright's disease; or when the lungs, through pulmonary or cardiac fault or the closeness of rooms, fail to replace carbon dioxid with oxygen and to remove the other impurities which they should remove; or when poisons are taken into the system, as in coal-gas poisoning; or when there is absorption of poisons formed in the alimentary tract (as in constipation), or unusual fermentative processes go on in that tract; or when poisons are formed in the blood or solid tissues, as in zymotic diseases or in lithemic states.
- n. The corn-poppy, Papaver Rhæas, the odor of which is said to cause headache. Also called head-wark.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Pain in the head; cephalalgia.
WordNet 3.0
- n. pain in the head caused by dilation of cerebral arteries or muscle contractions or a reaction to drugs
- n. pain in the head caused by dilation of cerebral arteries or muscle contractions or a reaction to drugs
- n. something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness
Etymologies
- From head + ache (Wiktionary)
Examples
“What is called "_sick headache_," or "nervous headache," begins by a sense of blindness or blur, before the eyes, of green or purple colors, dazzling or swimming in the head, without, for some time at first, any positive aching or pain.”
“a disordered stomach causes severe headache, known as _sick headache_.”
“God's sake, the headache is the most common medical condition plaguing human beings!”
“Pat had elected to stay in bed, in consequence of what he called headache and his sisters translated as”
“(An alternative name for this kind of headache is 'suicide headache' because sufferers have been known to resort to the ultimate headache cure.)”
“This kind of headache is generally only suffered by men, is typically suffered intensely over a period of weeks with a long period of remission in between, is extremely rare, and is off the Richter scale of painfulness.”
“The doctors 'biggest headache is a 1997 law that will reduce doctors' Medicare payments by 23 percent on Dec. 1 unless Congress postpones the cut, an action that most lawmakers believe is likely.”
“After searching the Internet, she discovered that one of the causes of a cough headache is a Chiari 1 malformation of the skull.”
The Washington Post: Woman's crushing headache took years to diagnose
“But since chronic headaches are mainly experienced by women of reproductive age, chronic daily headache is thought to happen to 10 percent of them.”
“In fact, Obama's biggest headache is going to come from Senators McCain and Graham if they believe the White House is withholding vital military support from their favorite general.”
The Huffington Post: Amb. Marc Ginsberg: The Post Election Foreign Policy Hangover
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘headache’.
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Mirrored Vowels
Rules:
• The word must have an even number of vowels.
• There must be four or more vowels; thus, at minimum, an A-A-A-A or A-B-B-A pattern.
• The vowels must appear in a mir...feminine, solicitor, caruncular, repackager, semiprimes, fetishises, decomposer, demonlover, recomposer, sepultures, lipotropic, colesterol and 385 more...
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• Little pains in my butt
Annoying, little, things. In a single word.
psoriasis, interjections, sultriness, spam, mice, mosquitoes, dust, mould, ipod, pimple, blister, sliver and 93 more...
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• Knuckle tattoos
Our personal suggestions for those who feel the need for knuckle tattoos. For "4+4", see also frogapplause's Candy Hearts.
venomous, unworthy, tucotuco, vrooming, mispelin, i ♥ mozart, tiramisù, fartlets, pindaric, pecorino, the f word, 3.141592 and 104 more...
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Excuses
Plausible, predictable, or far-fetched.
dog ate it, wardrobe malfunction, plumb forgot, headache, meteor shower, burning butterfly, egged from a scho..., had to wash sheets, had a manicure ac..., not tonight - the..., my hemorrhoids ar..., hyperactive spam ... and 35 more...
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Say It Right
Words that people pronounce in ways I wouldn't pronounce them.
often, palm, clitoris, aunt, vasectomy, interesting, headache, ask, row, ignominy, antimony, ptisan and 2 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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What Keeps Your Ears Apart?
A sort of stuffie of words/phrases that include "head"
head of cattle, out of one's head, head of the stairs, come to a head, head of steam, head of the page, win by a head, head taller, headway, fountainhead, heads or tails, hit the nail on t... and 143 more...
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unwell
pheochromocytoma, tumor, adrenaline, gland, endocrine, neurological, hormone, imbalance, heart, palpitation, sweating, headache and 74 more...
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Hangover
veisalgia, headache, xerostomic, nauseous, gagging, vomiting, retching, bloodshot, technicolour yawn, pukey, seedy, delicate and 1 more...
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OM2 Lesson 23
head, headache, split, splitting, past, several, hit, suddenly, explode, shoulder, neck, back and 11 more...
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Word_Art prompts
For a private writing community, to generate and store ideas for future prompts. If people have suggestions of prompts that can be used in several ways, feel free to comment.
Past pro...chocolate, lavender, tulip, sun, wine, dice, meadow, cloud, headache, lace, crow, apple and 66 more...
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Casey's list
Updated sporadically
headache, tired, frazzled, disillusioned, desperate, insomnia
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reecedano's Words
recalcitrant, cake, stochastic, ghosts, pique, muffinaire, typography, headache, fidget, axilla
Tweets
Looking for tweets for headache.
bilby PU, use the links at the top of the page for more conceptual 'sites' ... Mr Nice Hands reminds me of palooka :-)
Yes, the cursor does affect the speed. Nov 5, 2009
PossibleUnderscore I think that's terrific!!! How do you come across things like that?
And is it just me, or does the speed change according to the position of the cursor? Nov 5, 2009
bilby Try this. Nov 5, 2009
Prolagus Then you just pick something from mollusque's list. Sep 29, 2008
frogapplause That's good for one night. Then what? Sep 29, 2008
bilby Not tonight darling, I have to go and make a Headache list on Wordie. Sep 29, 2008