- past participle of gnaw.
gnawn
Americanverb
Other Word Forms
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.
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
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 Algernon Charles Swinburne
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 A. E. (Alfred Edward) Housman
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 Robert Southey
But the wolf has devoured my sow, Mine, mine, mine; My chickens are killed by the cats, My onions are gnawn by the rats; Good-bye to my dowry now.
From Basque Legends With an Essay on the Basque Language by Wentworth Webster
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.
