GNAW (gnawn)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: gnawn   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does gnaw mean? 

• GNAW (verb)
  The verb GNAW has 2 senses:

1. bite or chew on with the teeth

2. become ground down or deteriorate

  Familiarity information: GNAW used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GNAW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they gnaw    ... he / she / it gnaws   
Past simple: gnawed   
Past participle: gnawed   
-ing form: gnawing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Bite or chew on with the teeth

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

gnaw an old cracker

Hypernyms (to "gnaw" is one way to...):

chew; jaw; manducate; masticate (chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth)

bite; seize with teeth (to grip, cut off, or tear with or as if with the teeth or jaws)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

gnawer (relatively small placental mammals having a single pair of constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become ground down or deteriorate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

eat at; erode; gnaw; gnaw at; wear away

Context example:

Her confidence eroded

Hypernyms (to "gnaw" is one way to...):

crumble; decay; dilapidate (fall into decay or ruin)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

 Context examples 

Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Check Yes or No if the adjective applies to your pain; gnawing.

(BPI - Gnawing, NCI Thesaurus)

There had been no useless gnawing.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I was firm, however, and told him that he could not have it, whereupon he went without a word, and sat down, gnawing his fingers, in the corner where I had found him.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The thought gnawed in his brain, an unceasing torment, while he smiled and succeeded in being tolerant.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

They were reckoning him as certain, but with her it was a gnawing solicitude never appeased for five minutes together.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

They gnawed and gnawed until he could not keep his mind steady on the course he must pursue to gain the land of little sticks.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

One of the teeth in front of the canines in either jaw designed for cutting or gnawing.

(Incisor, NCI Thesaurus)

He continually drummed his fingers on the table, gnawed his nails, and gave other signs of nervous impatience.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Jealousy had got hold of him: she stung him; but the sting was salutary: it gave him respite from the gnawing fang of melancholy.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I sawed and chopped and chiselled the weathered wood till it had the appearance of having been gnawed by some gigantic mouse.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)