as in eroding
to consume or wear away gradually
time has gnawed that author's reputation to the point where he rates little more than a footnote
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Recent Examples of gnawing
There came a moment—probably before the husband dragged the child, gnawing on his gloved hand, through attic insulation—when things shifted like a plank laying across a fulcrum, weight placed on one end.
—
Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
Yet the techno-optimism sweeping the production community is accompanied by a gnawing anxiety about the way established IP is at risk of being ripped off and remixed.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 9 Oct. 2025
Some live with the gnawing fear of running out of options.
—Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 24 Sep. 2025
All this scrolling feeds a gnawing anxiety about the status of men today, imperiled by shifting cultural norms and technological addictions — an insecurity at the core of debates about the place of men in literature today.
—Robert Rubsam, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
At some point, everyone faces upheaval; a layoff, a health scare, a collapsing industry, or simply the gnawing sense that the old way isn’t working anymore.
—Mark Murphy, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Some might use it as a toy, gnawing and tearing it up, while others, like Potato, like to sleep with the clothing item.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025
No other piece of music this year so eloquently captured fin de siècle wariness, the gnawing sense that a new, scary, and potentially enlightening world may be only two years away.
—Ew Staff Published, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
Yet the techno-optimism sweeping the production community is accompanied by a gnawing anxiety about the way established IP is at risk of being ripped off and remixed.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 9 Oct. 2025
Some live with the gnawing fear of running out of options.
—Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 24 Sep. 2025
All this scrolling feeds a gnawing anxiety about the status of men today, imperiled by shifting cultural norms and technological addictions — an insecurity at the core of debates about the place of men in literature today.
—Robert Rubsam, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
At some point, everyone faces upheaval; a layoff, a health scare, a collapsing industry, or simply the gnawing sense that the old way isn’t working anymore.
—Mark Murphy, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Some might use it as a toy, gnawing and tearing it up, while others, like Potato, like to sleep with the clothing item.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025
No other piece of music this year so eloquently captured fin de siècle wariness, the gnawing sense that a new, scary, and potentially enlightening world may be only two years away.
—Ew Staff Published, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gnawing
Verb
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Most recently, in 2022, the county had completed a more than $18 million project for beach nourishment, which is the process of adding sand to an eroding beach to widen it.—
Samantha Delouya,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
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Meanwhile, a recent constitutional reform that gave Mexico’s ruling party control over all three branches of government has fed fears of rising state control over the economy, eroding confidence.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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While about 10% of adults worldwide report bloating, fatigue or gut pain after eating foods containing gluten, only 16% to 30% of those cases show true gluten-specific reactions, the paper found.—
Deirdre Bardolf,
FOXNews.com,
8 Nov. 2025
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While that helps some of us love and others loathe tastes like super-dark chocolate or black coffee, the evolutionary purpose of these receptors is to keep us from eating things that could harm or kill us.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
8 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gnawing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gnawing. Accessed 29 Nov. 2025.
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