gnaw
Americanverb (used with object)
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gnaws,
present (3rd person singular)
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gnawed,
past
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grawed,
past participle
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gnawn,
past participle (Archaic)
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gnawing
present participle
-
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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gnaws,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gnawed,
past
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grawed,
past participle
-
gnawn,
past participle (Archaic)
-
gnawing
present participle
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
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
It is the three mistakes leading to a goal - the highest in the league - which will gnaw away, though.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 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
Shield me from these doubts that gnaw at me, he had prayed, and give me the strength to do what is right.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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
A familiar guilt gnaws at my edges as I think about Tao, about the things he said to me in the temple’s kitchens.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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
He frustratedly gnawed on a piece of gum as he trotted back to the dugout.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2025
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
Stella gnawed on her pencil as Mrs. Grayson put on her reading glasses, slid away the twine from the package, and snapped the wrapping open.
From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper
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
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 The Moors in Spain by Lane-Poole, Stanley
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)
The bones of the cutlets were decorated with pink frills- and yesterday he had gnawn ham from the bone!
From Jacob's Room by Woolf, Virginia
One thought lies close in her heart gnawn thorough With pain, a weed in a dried-up river, A rust-red share in an empty furrow.
From A Century of Roundels by Swinburne, Algernon Charles
An' from bein' a puny cheel I grawed a bonny wan arter dipping.
From Lying Prophets by Phillpotts, Eden
He rambled in his speech a while; then went mute again, wi' a new look in his eyes as though he'd grawed so auld as history in a single night.
From Lying Prophets by Phillpotts, Eden
Then the chap just catched wan feesh proper, an' St. Neot ate en, an' grawed well by sundown.
From Lying Prophets by Phillpotts, Eden
I hopes I'll hit so hard as faither hisself wan day, when I'm grawed.
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
You slice it the wrong way and, instead of a tender, juicy bite, you’re left gnawing on something that tastes like a rubber band.
From Salon ● May 22, 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
Healthcare, housing, car payments, groceries and energy bills are the costs really gnawing at wallets, according to an analysis from the trade organization.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 19, 2026
Nothing prepared me for the gnawing unease of pivoting from saving to spending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
All my imaginings ’bout settling Pap’s debt and rustling up this gang that robbed the Tanners started gnawing at me and I was getting more and more excited and worked up.
From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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.
