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Gnaw

//nɔ// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of gnawing.

    "have a gnaw of a bone"

Verb
  1. 1
    To bite something persistently, especially something tough. ambitransitive

    "The dog gnawed the bone until it broke in two."

  2. 2
    become ground down or deteriorate wordnet
  3. 3
    To produce excessive anxiety or worry. intransitive

    "Her comment gnawed at me all day and I couldn't think about anything else."

  4. 4
    bite or chew on with the teeth wordnet
  5. 5
    To corrode; to fret away; to waste.

    "VVots thou vvho's returnd, / The unthrift Bonvile, ragged as a ſcarre-crovv / The VVarres have gnavv'd his garments to the skinne: […]"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English gnawen, gnaȝen, from Old English gnagan, from Proto-West Germanic *gnagan, from Proto-Germanic *gnaganą (“to gnaw”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʰnēgʰ- (“to gnaw, scratch”). Cognate with Dutch knagen, German nagen, Danish gnave (“to gnaw”), Norwegian Bokmål gnage, Norwegian Nynorsk gnaga, Swedish gnaga.

Etymology 2

From Middle English gnawen, gnaȝen, from Old English gnagan, from Proto-West Germanic *gnagan, from Proto-Germanic *gnaganą (“to gnaw”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʰnēgʰ- (“to gnaw, scratch”). Cognate with Dutch knagen, German nagen, Danish gnave (“to gnaw”), Norwegian Bokmål gnage, Norwegian Nynorsk gnaga, Swedish gnaga.

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