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toothache

toothache

22 1.0
A pain in or near a tooth
  • noun
  • /ˈtuːθeɪk/
translation icon : dolor de muelas
  • A persistent toothache forced him to call the dentist for an emergency appointment.

The symptoms would often start with a toothache and jaw pain and then progress to tissue death.

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Examples

  • If you have a toothache, that's a nerve that's aching.

  • Well, Dr. Rose, I have this toothache right here.

  • I got a little toothache here.

  • Unfortunately, I had the toothache.

  • In 2007, I started having a bad toothache and needed a root canal.

    Blog text (18)
  • She has a toothache, so she went to lie down.

  • My pal here's got a rather bad toothache.

  • But once the pain of that toothache overrides the fear, you can't get to that dentist quick enough.

  • How I hate to bring it up, but she's got an awful toothache; we've got to carry her to the dentist.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The question nagged at Kassianos like the beginnings of a toothache for the rest of the day.

    Fiction book (1997)

Synonyms

odontalgia
vstoothache
  • Specialized
9.9

Pain around a tooth, often felt as a sharp or dull ache

is the common everyday word for that same pain

Compounds

A small North American tree whose bark people chew to ease tooth pain

How Painful

agony
135 3.9
throbbing
1 4.3
toothache
22 1.0
soreness
11 2.3

Surface Forms

toothache singular
toothaches plural

Morphology

toothache = tooth + ache (transparent) = tooth + ache

The meaning is directly derived from the combination of 'tooth' and 'ache', indicating a pain associated with a tooth.

Etymology

Toothache comes from two simple parts, tooth and ache, and ache means 'pain'. So a toothache is literally 'tooth pain', which is why we use it for pain in or around a tooth.