as in chewing
to crush or grind with the teeth
please don't gnaw on that steak bone—it's very unseemly
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gnawing (on)
chewing
Verb
-
Cud-chewing calves like Mabel don't get any antibodies in the womb and depend on the colostrum — or first milk — from their moms for those antibodies in the 24 hours after they are born.—
Jordyn Noennig,
jsonline.com,
20 Aug. 2025 -
Archaeologists have mostly found evidence for betel nut chewing in ancient times through easily visible stains and fragments of betel leaves and nuts in teeth.—
Elizabeth Rayne,
ArsTechnica,
19 Aug. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Gnawing (on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gnawing%20%28on%29. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
