gnaw
verb (used with object)
to bite or chew on, especially persistently.
has been gnawing
-
present perfect progressiveof gnaw (3rd person singular).present perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that began in the past, has continued continuously, and is still in progress.
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.
This has been gnawing at me for months.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2022
But even as it basks in its outsize economic and cultural influence, something has been gnawing at the state’s psyche.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2019
I haven’t told Adam this, but the uncertainty of what will happen has been gnawing at me.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2018
“Its achievement is that it tries to marshal the anger which ever since 1963 has been gnawing away on some dark shelf of the national psyche.”
From The Guardian ● Jan. 7, 2017
Cromwell dismantled it, and laid waste the gardens around it, and the tooth of time has been gnawing at it ever since, but it is magnificent even in its ruins.
From The Youthful Wanderer An Account of a Tour through England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany by George H. Heffner
