GNAW • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Gnaw

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/nɔ/ Listen

verb

Gnaw v. t. (past gnawed; past part. gnawn; pres. part. gnawing)

To bite, as something hard or tough, which is not readily separated or crushed; to bite off little by little, with effort; to wear or eat away by scraping or continuous biting with the teeth; to nibble at. "His bones clean picked; his very bones they gnaw."

To bite in agony or rage. "They gnawed their tongues for pain."

To corrode; to fret away; to waste.

To trouble in a constant manner; to plague; to worry; to vex; usually used with at; as, his mounting debts gnawed at him.

Gnaw v. i. (past gnawed; past part. gnawn; pres. part. gnawing) To use the teeth in biting; to bite with repeated effort, as in eating or removing with the teeth something hard, unwieldy, or unmanageable. "I might well, like the spaniel, gnaw upon the chain that ties me."

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Etymology of 'Gnaw'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Gnaw" Quotes from Famous Books

... Billy Bushytail, and the Wibblewobble duck children, and Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the puppy dogs. And as for Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old rabbit gentleman, who was quite rich since he found his fortune, he was so busy that he wore out two rheumatism crutches and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had to gnaw him another from a broom stick, instead of ...

— Curly and Floppy Twistytail - The Funny Piggie Boys • Howard R. Garis

... once that I began to gnaw the head of my cane, to consult the ceiling, to gaze at the fire, to examine Caroline's foot, and I thus held out till the ...

— Petty Troubles of Married Life, Second Part • Honore de Balzac

... symptoms may be divided into three stages. The first, or melancholy stage, usually lasts from twelve to forty-eight hours. The animal's behavior is altered and it becomes sullen, irritable and nervous. Sometimes it is friendly and inclined to lick the hand of its master. An inclination to gnaw or swallow indigestible objects is sometimes noted. Frequently a certain part of the skin is ...

— Common Diseases of Farm Animals • R. A. Craig, D. V. M.

... of great genius introduced the fiends of Famine, Slaughter, and Fire, proclaiming that they had received their commission from One whose name was formed of four letters, and promising to give their employer ample proofs of gratitude. Famine would gnaw the multitude till they should rise up against him in madness. The demon of slaughter would impel them to tear him from limb to limb. But Fire boasted that she alone could reward him as he deserved, and that she would cling round ...

— The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 3. (of 4) • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... dead, when ten minutes afterwards the cry of one of her babes struck on her ear, and the next moment Ursel stood beside her, laying them down close to her, and saying exultingly, "Safe! safe out at the gate, and down the hillside, and my old lady ready to gnaw off her ...

— The Dove in the Eagle's Nest • Charlotte M. Yonge

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