gnash
Americanverb (used with object)
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to grind or strike (the teeth) together, especially in rage or pain.
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to bite with grinding teeth.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
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to grind (the teeth) together, as in pain or anger
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(tr) to bite or chew as by grinding the teeth
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has gnashedperfect 3rd person singular
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have gnashedperfect
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am gnashingprogressive 1st person singular
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gnashingparticiple
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gnashessingular 3rd person
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is gnashingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are gnashingprogressive
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has been gnashingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been gnashingperfect progressive
Past
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had gnashedperfect
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was gnashingprogressive singular
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had been gnashingperfect progressive
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gnashedparticiple
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were gnashingprogressive plural
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gnashedsimple
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing gnash
The House of Hades
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The Subtle Knife
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Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 1)
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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.
The festival's events include a Dennis and Gnash Dash, a comics character parade, and a "marvellous marble world record attempt."
From BBC • Jul. 16, 2022
Gritty received 273 of 393 votes, finishing ahead of Nashville’s Gnash and Arizona’s Howler, who got 11 votes each.
From Washington Times • Mar. 31, 2020
Police under Captain S. J. Gnash had been warned and were ready for them, drove them back in consternation with tear-gas pistols loaned for the occasion by the Army Chemical Warfare Service.
From Time Magazine Archive
“The dog Slasher, for example, is really named Slash von Hare Hunter the Third. His mother was Delfina Handchopper out of Gnash von Hare Hunter the Second. Gnash was Delfina’s father.”
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
And although I Gnash my teeth when I look in your French or your English papers, What is the good of that?
From Amours De Voyage by Clough, Arthur Hugh
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.
