gnaw
Americanverb (used with object)
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gnaws,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gnawed,
past
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grawed,
past participle
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gnawn,
past participle (Archaic)
-
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
-
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
-
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
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Where the Red Fern Grows
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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.
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
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
The zoo said: "During the count, Crispin and Zac, the Zoo's two boisterous Sumatran tiger cubs, quickly turned the register in their enclosure into a toy, dragging it away to gnaw on."
From BBC ● Jan. 3, 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
Amil and I would fight over the pit, loving to gnaw every bit of fruit off it, the filmy stickiness coating our hands and face.
From "The Night Diary" by Veera Hiranandani
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
It gnaws at you; it can feel like it takes up a lot of space and energy with no clear solution.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
The parrot hops down to the desk, kicks around some of the mess, and when he finds no pen, he gnaws off a blue-green feather from his back.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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
All around, tree stumps bear tell‑tale signs of busy activity, gnawed into points with teeth marks still clearly visible.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026
Despite his obvious good looks and small-town charm, something suspicious gnawed at me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
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
Three fears had gnawed at Lazlo, back in his old life.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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
The bones of the cutlets were decorated with pink frills- and yesterday he had gnawn ham from the bone!
From Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf
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 Stanley Lane-Poole
Notandum, A rat had gnawn my spur-leathers; notwithstanding, I put on new, and did go forth: but first I threw three beans over the threshold.
From Volpone; Or, the Fox by Ben Jonson
He has gnawn off all the best mouthfuls already.
From Jacques Bonneval by Anne Manning
Pearls—pearls—pearls is on Tom, an' the sea creatures gives what they can, 'cause they knaw as he'd a grawed to be a man an' theer master.
From Lying Prophets by Eden Phillpotts
The “Marsh King” got up and said, “I allus telled yer yer must graw wool; but when you’ve grawed it, yer mustn’t sit on it, yer must sell it.”
From Tennyson and His Friends by Various
An' so you alias have, Polly, since you was a grawed gal; an' God knaws it.
From Lying Prophets by Eden Phillpotts
"Then my work's the harder; but I'll find en, s'elp me God, even if us be grawed gray afore we meet."
From Lying Prophets by Eden Phillpotts
I’m grawed a auld, cold-hearted woman, wi’ a grey hair here an’ theer a’ready.”
From Children of the Mist by Eden Phillpotts
For Lee, the sting of rejection gave way to a gnawing fear that she would end up struggling for money until she died.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
But that teaches another more cautionary lesson about collecting nemeses: Salieri never figured out how to channel his gnawing envy into motivation.
From Salon ● May 16, 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
For anyone in Caroline's situation, simply seeing a parent with a pram can be painful, the source of a gnawing envy.
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026
In the back of his mind, Nathan felt a gnawing fear that made his knees weak and his spine ache.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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