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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gnashingparticiple
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gnashessingular 3rd person
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am gnashingprogressive 1st person singular
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is gnashingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are gnashingprogressive
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have been gnashingperfect progressive
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has been gnashingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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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gnashedsimple
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were gnashingprogressive plural
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.
Or Disney’s “Frozen,” from 2013, where wolves gnash as they pursue the heroine.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2025
“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
“Go weep or gnash your teeth for Katie – and, no it’s not fair! – but we must hold that seat,” she said.
From The Guardian • Oct. 30, 2019
He says his daughters have seen him gnash his teeth when he talks about his father, but they also have heard him speak lovingly of the man who taught him compassion and other virtues.
From Washington Times • Nov. 14, 2018
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
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.
