gnash

American  

[nash] / næʃ /

verb (used with object)

• gnashes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gnashed,
  past participle,  past
• gnashing
  present participle

1. to grind or strike (the teeth) together, especially in rage or pain.

2. to bite with grinding teeth.

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verb (used without object)

• gnashes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gnashed,
  past participle,  past
• gnashing
  present participle

1. to gnash the teeth.

noun

1. an act of gnashing.

gnash British  

/ næʃ /

verb

1. to grind (the teeth) together, as in pain or anger

2. (tr) to bite or chew as by grinding the teeth

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noun

1. the act of gnashing the teeth

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gnashingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• gnashing
  present
• gnashed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• gnash
  simple
• gnashes
  simple
• have gnashed
  perfect
• has gnashed
  perfect
• am gnashing
  progressive
• are gnashing
  progressive
• is gnashing
  progressive
• have been gnashing
  perfect progressive
• has been gnashing
  perfect progressive

Past

• gnashed
  simple
• had gnashed
  perfect
• was gnashing
  progressive
• were gnashing
  progressive
• had been gnashing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will gnash
  simple
• will have gnashed
  perfect
• will be gnashing
  progressive
• will have been gnashing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of gnash

1490–1500; variant of obsolete gnast, Middle English gnasten; compare Old Norse gnastan gnashing of teeth

Explanation

To gnash is to rub or grind your teeth together. A suspicious guard dog might growl and gnash its teeth. When you angrily grit your teeth, you can say you gnash them. People almost always gnash their teeth from anger or frustration, or in a display of ferocity. A terrible ogre in a fairy tale might gnash his teeth, and your furious school bus driver might gnash her teeth at the ruckus her passengers are making. Gnash is a Middle English variation on gnasten, "grind the teeth together," from Old Norse gnasta, "gnash the teeth."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gnash gnashes gnashed gnashing

Some barely notice they're doing it, while others can gnash through mouthguards and wake even the deepest sleeping bed partners.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

But it’s not the dirty-looking curs that run, snarl, bark and gnash their teeth behind fences when a visitor approaches that one needs to fear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2024

I don’t know about you, but I gnash my teeth every time I hear someone has accused a fat celebrity, model or influencer of “glorifying obesity” for simply being happy and living their life publicly.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2023

“I hate him. I hate him so much it makes me gnash my teeth,” she said in the interview.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2021

She wanted to scream, to gnash her teeth and tear her clothes and beat upon the floor.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

The veritable pity party gnashes its teeth more and more as the months pass.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2025

The great matador gnashes his teeth while the señoritas throw flowers and jewels at the doctor’s feet.

From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2020

“He’s not a brooder, not someone who wrings his hands and gnashes his teeth,” Axelrod said.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 16, 2013

"Ancelotti clung to the wrong lifeboat, the same one as usual – Torres – and the pair of them sank together," gnashes the Gazzetta before gushing over United.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 13, 2011

The Grandmaitre looks toward heaven, gnashes his teeth, and cries out, 'The victory of the Spaniards shall not be bloodless, or I die this day.'

From The Life and Times of Ulric Zwingli by Johann Jakob Hottinger

To give the sandworm’s gaping maw some grandeur, Green recorded a friend’s dog as it gnashed its teeth, while Mangini added grumbling whale noises that matched the rhythm of the thumper — gunk, gunk, gunk.

From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2022

The mask came off, the gnashed teeth of the Hulk gone, a face of these Tokyo Olympics revealed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2021

Journalists at CNN gnashed their teeth at missed opportunities to show off their toughness and knowledge if they’d been in his place asking questions of premiers or presidents.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 23, 2021

“The wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws but Max stepped into his private boat and waved goodbye.”

From The Guardian ● Jul. 26, 2019

The villainess gnashed her teeth and said, “Foiled again!”

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

Finding the thick edge of another £5bn from existing budgets could prompt plenty more backbench gnashing of teeth.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

After all the gnashing riffs, Lauryn Hill sang a snatch of “Nothing Even Matters,” her tender 1998 duet with D’Angelo, the neo-soul savant who died in October.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026

In the face of terror, you need to sway and smile to take a break from the weeping and the gnashing of teeth that’s the rest of the day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2025

At the same time, he continues to throw himself a great pity party, wraps himself in his solipsistic view of victimhood, wailing like a banshee and gnashing his teeth in anger.

From Salon ● May 30, 2024

He learns that she is prone to snoring, ever so faintly, sounding like a lawn mower that will not start, and to gnashing her jaws, which he massages for her as she sleeps.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri