sick headache
Definition
Noun: 1. A severe, recurring vascular headache: A specific type of intense headache, often characterized by throbbing pain, that happens repeatedly. This type is more common in women than in men. 2. A headache accompanied by nausea: Any headache where the primary associated symptom is a feeling of sickness or the urge to vomit.
Usage Notes
- The term "sick headache" is an older, more general term. In modern medical contexts, the first definition is closely associated with migraine. The second definition is a descriptive term for a symptom (nausea) accompanying various types of headaches.
- It functions as a countable noun (e.g., , ).
Examples
- She retired to a dark room, suffering from one of her terrible sick headaches.
- The stress of the exam gave him a sick headache that lasted all afternoon.
- My grandmother used the term "sick headache" for what we now call a migraine.
Advanced Usage
- The term can be used descriptively to emphasize the debilitating nature of the headache:
Variants and Related Words
- Migraine (n.): The modern medical term most equivalent to the "severe, recurring vascular headache" sense of "sick headache."
- Nauseous (adj.): Feeling sick to one's stomach, which is the defining characteristic of the second sense.
- Cephalalgia (n.): The formal medical term for a headache.
Synonyms
- For the first sense (severe, recurring): Migraine, megrim (archaic).
- For the second sense (with nausea): Nauseating headache, bilious headache (archaic).
Idioms and Phrases
- To have a sick headache: To be suffering from this condition. This is the standard phrasing, not an idiom with a separate figurative meaning.
- She told her boss she had to leave early because she had a sick headache.
Noun
-
a severe recurring vascular headache; occurs more frequently in women than men
-
a headache accompanied by nausea
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