gnaw
Americanverb (used with object)
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to bite or chew on, especially persistently.
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to wear away or remove by persistent biting or nibbling.
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to form or make by so doing.
to gnaw a hole through the wall.
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to waste or wear away; corrode; erode.
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to trouble or torment by constant annoyance, worry, etc.; vex; plague.
verb (used without object)
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to bite or chew persistently.
The spaniel gnawed happily on a bone.
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to cause corrosion.
The acid gnaws at the metal.
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to cause an effect resembling corrosion.
Her mistake gnawed at her conscience.
verb
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to bite (at) or chew (upon) constantly so as to wear away little by little
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(tr) to form by gnawing
to gnaw a hole
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to cause erosion of (something)
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to cause constant distress or anxiety (to)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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gnawernoun
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outgnawverb (used with object)
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undergnawverb (used with object)
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gnawableadjective
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gnawingadjective
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ungnawedadjective
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gnawinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gnawsimple
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gnawssimple
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have gnawnperfect
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have grawedperfect
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has gnawnperfect
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has grawedperfect
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am gnawingprogressive
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are gnawingprogressive
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is gnawingprogressive
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have been gnawingperfect progressive
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has been gnawingperfect progressive
Past
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gnawedsimple
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had gnawnperfect
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had grawedperfect
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was gnawingprogressive
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were gnawingprogressive
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had been gnawingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gnaw
before 1000; Middle English gnawen, Old English gnagen; cognate with German nagen, Old Norse gnāga
Explanation
To gnaw is to bite or chew. Your favorite food might be corn on the cob, because you love to gnaw along each row of kernels. To gnaw also means to deteriorate or wear away as if by gnawing with the teeth. In Arches National Park, the weather has gnawed away at the rocks creating beautiful formations like arches, bridges, and balanced rocks. In this sense, to gnaw can be used even more figuratively. Something might gnaw at the back of your mind — something you were supposed to do, although now you can't quite remember what it was.
Vocabulary lists containing gnaw
The Silent Treatment: Words Plagued by Silent Letters
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Unit 1: Telling Details
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Where the Red Fern Grows
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
What’s missing, and might well gnaw at a viewer, is whether regenerative farming can feed the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
"They gnaw everything except metal. Because of the mice, we had to eat all food products except canned food quickly, or else the mice would destroy them all."
From BBC ● May 17, 2026
While beetles gnaw away and burrow through the phloem under the trees' bark, the much smaller, flightless adelgid sucks out the trees' fluids and leaves behind a toxic saliva.
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2024
Only this time, instead of letting the anxiety gnaw at her confidence, she accepted its presence, took a deep breath, and put on the kind of show that is hers and hers alone.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 22, 2023
“So long as they get a name to gnaw on they don’t care whose it is, and what about, ’specially if they can make it sound like evil.”
From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston
Artificial intelligence could be the boogeyman that gnaws at market share.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
One man gnaws at a fleshless bone, clearly desperate for food.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2025
The creature lifts its head, nearly dainty in scale, and contentedly gnaws a mouthful of ferns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2024
He’s a good physical comedian, especially when he gnaws a breath mint like a bunny.
From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2023
The sister gnaws on a fingernail and nods.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Sponsor Nike has even started to dress him in nice clothes, though I’m not sure what to do with that macrame-style warm-up jacket, which looks like it spent a winter getting gnawed by moths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
It is brutal talk, from a softly spoken man, but Brovdi refuses to be "gnawed by pity".
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
Despite his obvious good looks and small-town charm, something suspicious gnawed at me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
When she was a vegan-curious teenager, it gnawed at her that giving up animal products could mean sacrificing sports.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2024
Ophie gnawed on her bottom lip and stared at the empty shelf.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
As he wrote, “the body of the charter has been unfortunately gnawn by rats” — a comment that carries grim symbolism today, as we take up the task the rats left unfinished.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2012
Now the scorned unlucky lad Rousing from his pillow gnawn Mans his heart and deep and glad Drinks the valiant air of dawn.
From Last Poems by A. E. Housman by Housman, A. E. (Alfred Edward)
He has gnawn off all the best mouthfuls already.
From Jacques Bonneval by Manning, Anne
The ferret had therefore deliberately gnawn away the hindquarters and so bored a passage.
From The Amateur Poacher by Jefferies, Richard
Thy pleasant gardens which were round about thee;…the ravenous wolf hath gnawn at the roots, and the trees can yield thee no fruit.
From Chronicle of the Cid by Southey, Robert
"It hurted my arm 'tween the shoulder an' elbow a lil bit at first, but I've grawed used to it now."
From Lying Prophets by Phillpotts, Eden
I’m weary of you; I don’t fear you worse than a blind worm; but such as you are, you’ve grawed against me since my luck comed.
From Children of the Mist by Phillpotts, Eden
“The childer—they grawed to love me that dear—also the men an’ women.
From Children of the Mist by Phillpotts, Eden
Pearls—pearls—pearls is on Tom, an' the sea creatures gives what they can, 'cause they knaw as he'd a grawed to be a man an' theer master.
From Lying Prophets by Phillpotts, Eden
I lay that’s why your darter’s cried o’ nights, then, an’ Chris have grawed sad an’ wisht in her ways, an’ mother have pet the bwoy wan moment an’ been short wi’ un the next.”
From Children of the Mist by Phillpotts, Eden
But that teaches another more cautionary lesson about collecting nemeses: Salieri never figured out how to channel his gnawing envy into motivation.
From Salon ● May 16, 2026
Citrus greening disease is caused by a bacterial infection that is delivered by the gnawing of the Asian citrus psyllid.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
A parade worker quickly pulled down the sign, but the statement made its mark, cutting through conversations about recovery and progress with the gnawing questions that continue to haunt so many Eaton fire survivors:
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2026
AI could be one, as well: The very thing powering the stock market to records might be gnawing away at Americans’ sense of well being.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 18, 2025
“I just don’t want any whiskery disgusting thing gnawing at my legs, is all,” Florida said.
From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
