Meanings
verbgnash (third-person singular simple present gnashes, present participle gnashing, simple past and past participle gnashed)
present singular third person gnashes · participle present gnashing · participle past gnashed · past gnashed
- transitiveTo grind between the teeth.
to gnash the air in fury
1 more example
The dog was gnashing a carpet
- figurativelyTo clash together violently.
There they were, boiling up in snowy spouts of spray, smiting and gnashing together like the gleaming teeth of hell.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC - GeordieTo run away.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo grind (one's teeth) in pain or in anger.
Similar
Origin
- Middle Englishgnasten
- Englishgnash
From Middle English gnasten. Origin unknown; the word is probably either Germanic or ultimately onomatopoeic. Compare Old Norse gnastan, Danish gnaske ("munch", "crunch"), German knirschen, German Low German gnirschen, gnörschen (“gnash”), Swedish gnissla (“squeak; gnash”), all of onomatopoeic origin.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βρύκω, βρύχω
- βρύκω (brúkō)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- βρύχω (brúkhō)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- γομφιάζω (gomphiázō)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- πρίω (príō)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Arabic قَرَشَ
- قَرَشَ (qaraša)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Bulgarian скърцам със зъби
- скърцам със зъби (skărcam săs zăbi)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Catalan cruixir
- cruixirto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Chinese Cantonese 咬牙切齒 /咬牙切齿, 䶟
- 咬牙切齒 /咬牙切齿 (ngaau⁵ ngaa⁴ cit³ ci²)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- 䶟 (haam⁶)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- 䫴 /𩖗 (gaam³, ging⁶)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- 咬牙 (ngaau⁵ ngaa⁴)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- 切齒 /切齿 (cit³ ci²)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- 齧齒 /啮齿 (ngit⁶ ci², jit⁶ ci², ngaat⁶ ci²)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Chinese Mandarin 咬牙切齒 /咬牙切齿, 䶟
- 咬牙切齒 /咬牙切齿 (yǎoyáqièchǐ)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- 䶟 (xiàn)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- 䫴 /𩖗 (jìn)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- 咬牙 (yǎoyá)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- 切齒 /切齿 (qièchǐ)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- 齧齒 /啮齿 (nièchǐ)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Czech skřípat
- skřípatto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Danish skære tænder
- skære tænderto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Dutch tandenknarsen, knarsetanden
- tandenknarsento grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- knarsetandento grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Esperanto grincigi
- grincigito grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Finnish kiristää, kiristellä
- kiristääto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- kiristelläto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
French serrer les dents, grincer
- serrer les dentsto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- grincerto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
German knirschen
- knirschento grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Greek τρίζω
- τρίζω (trízo)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Hindi पीसना
- पीसना (pīsnā)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Hungarian csikorgatja a fogát, fogát csikorgatja
- csikorgatja a fogátto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- fogát csikorgatjato grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Icelandic nísta
- nístato grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Italian digrignare, dirugginire
- digrignareto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- dirugginireto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- sbattereto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- scuotereto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Japanese 歯軋りする
- 歯軋りする (hagishiri suru)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Korean 갈다
- 갈다 (galda)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Latin frendo
- frendoto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Latvian griezt
- grieztto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Lithuanian griežti, griežinti
- griežtito grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- griežintito grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Māori tetē, tetēā
- tetēto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- tetēāto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- whakatetēāto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- nenēto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Norwegian Bokmål skjære tenner
- skjære tennerto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Persian ساییدن
- ساییدن (sâyidan)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Polish zgrzytać
- zgrzytaćto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Portuguese ranger, rilhar
- rangerto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
- rilharto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Romanian scrâșni din dinți
- scrâșni din dințito grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Russian скрежета́ть
- скрежета́ть (skrežetátʹ)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Spanish crujir de dientes
- crujir de dientesto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Swedish gnissla
- gnisslato grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Thai กัด
- กัด (gàt)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Ukrainian скреготати
- скреготати (skrehotaty)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Urdu پِیسْنا
- پِیسْنا (pīsnā)to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Vietnamese nghiến răng
- nghiến răngto grind one's teeth in pain or in anger
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with gnash
cashflashcacheapachecrashashdashhashbashsplashnashclashrashmashstashnewsflashsashthrashlashpanachemoustachebrashbackslashpotash
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
gnash. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gnash
MLA
“gnash.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gnash. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gnash,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gnash.
Source: gnash on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.