gnaw

verb

\ ˈnȯ

gnawed; gnawing; gnaws

Definition of gnaw

transitive verb

1a : to bite or chew on with the teeth especially : to wear away by persistent biting or nibbling a dog gnawing a bone

b : to make by gnawing rats gnawed a hole

2a : to be a source of vexation to : plague anxiety always gnawing him

b : to affect like gnawing hunger gnawing her vitals

3 : erode, corrode

intransitive verb

1 : to bite or nibble persistently gnawing at his underlip

2 : to produce an effect of or as if of gnawing waves gnawing away at the cliffs

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Examples of gnaw in a Sentence

The dog was gnawing a bone. He nervously gnawed on his fingernails. Rabbits have gnawed at the hedge. Rabbits had gnawed a hole in the hedge.

Recent Examples on the Web

Those online newcomers are gnawing at other players’ market shares, thanks in part to aggressive advertising that follows you around the internet. — Hailey Mensik, Los Angeles Times, "Waking up a sleepy California mattress company | How I Made It," 18 Aug. 2019 Life lived in this kind of place brings gnawing, low-level unease. — David Campany, The New Yorker, "Life in Miami on the Knife’s Edge of Climate Change," 18 Aug. 2019 Her biggest source of frustration is the gnawing sense that the trade war seems not only futile but damaging. — Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, "Make Shoes in U.S., or Pay Tariffs? A Footwear Company Seeks a Third Option," 2 Sep. 2019 Trump received three million fewer votes than his opponent in the 2016 election, a fact that seems to constantly gnaw at him. — Matt Ford, The New Republic, "The Great Lie of the Right-Wing Populists," 30 Aug. 2019 In a mid-season episode of David Makes Man, the new Oprah Winfrey Network drama that explores the emotional volume of black teenhood and the gnawing effects of trauma, lead character David (Akili McDowell) encounters calamity. — Wired, "David Makes Man Invents a Doorway to a New Kind of TV," 28 Aug. 2019 Americans have forgotten how to strive for lasting truth, and a gnawing despair has filled the void. — Kayla Bartsch, National Review, "Marianne Williamson Offers Priestly Wisdom for a Nation Adrift — Seriously," 12 Aug. 2019 The solution, the research team suggests, is to make sure indoor cats have enough safe, non-poisonous vegetation to gnaw on, like cat grass. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Researchers Think They Know Why Cats Eat Grass," 12 Aug. 2019 This eclipse is about releasing old gnawing thoughts and the hurts of the past. — Emily Simone, Allure, "A Lunar Eclipse Is Coming — Here's How It Will Affect Each Zodiac Sign," 15 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gnaw.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.