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more about gnaw
gnaw |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Gnaw \Gnaw\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Gnawed}; p. pr & vb n. {Gnawing}.] [OE. gnawen, AS gnagan akin to D. knagen OHG. gnagan nagan, G. nagen, Icel. & Sw gnaga, Dan. gnave, nage. Cf {Nag} to tease.] 1. To bite, as something hard or tough, which is not readily separated or crushed; to bite off little by little, with effort; to wear or eat away by scraping or continuous biting with the teeth; to nibble at His bones clean picked; his very bones they gnaw. --Dryden. 2. To bite in agony or rage. They gnawed their tongues for pain. --Rev. xvi. 10. 3. To corrode; to fret away to waste. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Gnaw \Gnaw\, v. i. To use the teeth in biting; to bite with repeated effort, as in eating or removing with the teethsomething hard, unwiedly, or unmanageable. I might well like the spaniel, gnaw upon the chain that ties me --Sir P. Sidney. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: gnaw v 1: bite or chew on with the teeth; "gnaw an old cracker"; "chewed on a cookie" 2: become ground down or deteriorate; "Her confidence eroded" [syn: {erode}, {gnaw at}, {eat at}, {wear away}]
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