gnaw
Other forms: gnawing; gnawed; gnaws; gnawn
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.
-
bite or chew on with the teeth
-
become ground down or deteriorate
-
gnaw into; make resentful or angry
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing gnaw
The scourge of spellers, silent letters are often a stumbling block when learning how to write in English. To the modern eye, it's unclear what these letters are doing in the words in question, and learners sometimes simply have to memorize them. But the silent letters are very often hidden remnants of how the words passed through different languages on their way to English. Here are 20 words that prove that English spelling is far from rational
Billy saves enough money to buy two pups, Old Dan and Little Ann. Together they become one of the best hunting teams in the Ozarks—and devoted friends as well. But when the unthinkable happens, Billy must learn how to nurture hope in a time of tragedy.