gnaw
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
gnaw
- /nɔː/ UK
- /nɔ/ US
- /nɑ/ cot caught merger
Sounds like nor (non-rhotic) · Rhymes with -ɔː
Where it comes from
From Middle English gnawen, gnaȝen, from Old English gnagan, from Proto-West Germanic *gnagan, from Proto-Germanic *gnaganą (“to gnaw”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʰnēgʰ- (“to gnaw, scratch”).
Cognate with Dutch knagen, German nagen, Danish gnave (“to gnaw”), Norwegian Bokmål gnage, Norwegian Nynorsk gnaga, Swedish gnaga.
verb gnaws · gnawing · gnawed · gnew
- To bite something persistently, especially something tough. The dog gnawed the bone until it broke in two.
- To produce excessive anxiety or worry. Her comment gnawed at me all day and I couldn't think about anything else.
- To corrode; to fret away; to waste. VVots thou vvho's returnd, / The unthrift Bonvile, ragged as a ſcarre-crovv / The VVarres have gnavv'd his garments to the skinne: […]
noun gnaws
- The act of gnawing. give something a gnaw
