Meanings
present singular third person gnaws · participle present gnawing · past gnawed · dialectal past gnew · participle past gnawed · dialectal participle past gnew · archaic participle past gnawn
- ambitransitiveTo bite something persistently, especially something tough.
The dog gnawed the bone until it broke in two.
1 more example
Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon
c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv], line 25 - intransitiveTo produce excessive anxiety or worry.
Her comment gnawed at me all day and I couldn't think about anything else.
- To corrode; to fret away; to waste.
VVots thou vvho's returnd, / The unthrift Bonvile, ragged as a ſcarre-crovv / The VVarres have gnavv'd his garments to the skinne: […]
1637, Thomas Heywood, The Royall King, and the Loyall Subject. […], London: […] Nich[olas] and John Okes, for James Becket, […], →OCLC, Act III, signature E4, verso
plural gnaws
- The act of gnawing.
give something a gnaw
1 more example
have a gnaw of a bone
Synonyms & antonyms
verbbecome ground down or deteriorate
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gʰnēgʰ-“to gnaw, scratch”
- Proto-Germanic*gnaganą“to gnaw”
- Proto-West Germanic*gnagan
- Old Englishgnagan
- Middle Englishgnawen
- Englishgnaw
From Middle English gnawen, gnaȝen, from Old English gnagan, from Proto-West Germanic *gnagan, from Proto-Germanic *gnaganą (“to gnaw”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʰnēgʰ- (“to gnaw, scratch”). Cognate with Dutch knagen, German nagen, Danish gnave (“to gnaw”), Norwegian Bokmål gnage, Norwegian Nynorsk gnaga, Swedish gnaga.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek τρώγω
- τρώγω (trṓgō)to bite something persistently
Arabic نَخَرَ, قَضَمَ
- نَخَرَ (naḵara)to bite something persistently
- قَضَمَ (qaḍama)to bite something persistently
Bulgarian гриза́, гло́жда
- гриза́ (grizá)to bite something persistently
- гло́жда (glóžda)to bite something persistently
- глождя (gloždja)to produce anxiety or worry
- терзая (terzaja)to produce anxiety or worry
Catalan rosegar
- rosegarto bite something persistently
Chinese Mandarin 啃, 咬
- 啃 (kěn)to bite something persistently
- 咬 (yǎo)to bite something persistently
- 噬 (shì)to bite something persistently
Czech hlodat, hryzat
- hlodatto bite something persistently
- hryzatto bite something persistently
Danish gnave
- gnaveto bite something persistently
Dutch knagen
- knagento bite something persistently
Esperanto ronĝi
- ronĝito bite something persistently
Finnish jyrsiä, jäytää
- jyrsiäto bite something persistently
- jäytääto bite something persistently
- kalvaato bite something persistently
French ronger, harceler
- rongerto bite something persistently
- harcelerto produce anxiety or worry
- préoccuperto produce anxiety or worry
German nagen, kauen
- nagento bite something persistently
- kauento bite something persistently
- knabbernto bite something persistently
- nagento produce anxiety or worry
- verfolgento produce anxiety or worry
- umtreibento produce anxiety or worry
- beschäftigento produce anxiety or worry
Greek ροκανίζω
- ροκανίζω (rokanízo)to bite something persistently
Hebrew כִּרְסֵם
- כִּרְסֵם (kirsém)to bite something persistently
Hindi कुतरना
- कुतरना (kutarnā)to bite something persistently
Hungarian rág
- rágto bite something persistently
Icelandic naga
- nagato bite something persistently
Italian rodere, rosicchiare
- rodereto bite something persistently
- rosicchiareto bite something persistently
- mordicchiareto bite something persistently
- rosicareto bite something persistently
- rodereto produce anxiety or worry
Japanese 齧る
- 齧る (kajiru)to bite something persistently
Korean 쏠다, 물어뜯다
- 쏠다 (ssolda)to bite something persistently
- 물어뜯다 (mureotteutda)to bite something persistently
Latin rōdō
- rōdōto bite something persistently
Latvian kost, krimst
- kostto bite something persistently
- krimstto bite something persistently
Lithuanian įsikąsti
- įsikąstito bite something persistently
Malay unggis, kerumit
- unggisto bite something persistently
- kerumitto bite something persistently
Māori ngūngū, ngau
- ngūngūto bite something persistently
- ngauto bite something persistently
- kakatito bite something persistently
- kunāwheato produce anxiety or worry
- whakakūnawheketo produce anxiety or worry
- kinikinito produce anxiety or worry
Norwegian Bokmål gnage
- gnageto bite something persistently
Persian خاییدن, خسیدن
- خاییدن (xâyidan)to bite something persistently
- خسیدن (xasidan)to bite something persistently
Polish gryźć, głodać
- gryźćto bite something persistently
- głodaćto bite something persistently
Portuguese roer, morder
- roerto bite something persistently
- morderto bite something persistently
Romanian roade
- roadeto bite something persistently
Russian грызть, глода́ть
- грызть (gryztʹ)to bite something persistently
- глода́ть (glodátʹ)to bite something persistently
Slovak hlodať, hrýzť
- hlodaťto bite something persistently
- hrýzťto bite something persistently
Spanish roer, rosigar
- roerto bite something persistently
- rosigarto bite something persistently
- carcomerto bite something persistently
- chancomerto bite something persistently
- rustirto bite something persistently
- morderto bite something persistently
- carcomerto produce anxiety or worry
- roerto produce anxiety or worry
- reconcomerto produce anxiety or worry
- concomerto produce anxiety or worry
- recomerto produce anxiety or worry
- corroerto produce anxiety or worry
Swedish gnaga
- gnagato bite something persistently
Tagalog ngatngat
- ngatngatto bite something persistently
Thai แทะ
- แทะ (tɛ́)to bite something persistently
Turkish kemirmek
- kemirmekto bite something persistently
Ukrainian гри́зти, глода́ти
- гри́зти (hrýzty)to bite something persistently
- глода́ти (hlodáty)to bite something persistently
Vietnamese cắn, nhằn
- cắnto bite something persistently
- nhằnto bite something persistently
Welsh cnoi, cnoi
- cnoito bite something persistently
- cnoito produce anxiety or worry
- dwysbigoto produce anxiety or worry
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with gnaw
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
gnaw. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gnaw
“gnaw.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gnaw. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gnaw,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gnaw.
Source: gnaw on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.