gnaw

(redirected from gnawable)
Also found in: Thesaurus.

gnaw

(nô)

v. gnawed, gnaw·ing, gnaws

v.tr.

a. To bite, chew on, or erode with the teeth.

b. To produce by gnawing: gnaw a hole.

c. To erode or diminish gradually as if by gnawing: waves gnawing the rocky shore.

2. To afflict or worry persistently: fear that constantly gnawed me.

v.intr.

1. To bite or chew persistently: The dog gnawed at the bone.

2. To cause erosion or gradual diminishment.

3. To cause persistent worry or pain: Hunger gnawed at the prisoners.

[Middle English gnauen, from Old English gnagan.]

gnaw′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gnaw

(nɔː)

vb, gnaws, gnawing, gnawed, gnawed or gnawn (nɔːn)

1. (when: intr, often foll by at or upon) to bite (at) or chew (upon) constantly so as to wear away little by little

2. (tr) to form by gnawing: to gnaw a hole.

3. to cause erosion of (something)

4. (when: intr, often foll by at) to cause constant distress or anxiety (to)

the act or an instance of gnawing

[Old English gnagan; related to Old Norse gnaga, Old High German gnagan]

ˈgnawable adj

ˈgnawer n

ˈgnawing adj, n

ˈgnawingly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gnaw

(nɔ)

v.t.

1. to bite or chew on, esp. persistently: The kitten gnawed the slippers.

2. to wear away or remove by persistent biting.

3. to form by gnawing: to gnaw a hole.

4. to waste or wear away.

5. to trouble or torment by constant annoyance; vex; plague.

v.i.

6. to bite or chew persistently.

7. to cause corrosion.

8. to cause an effect resembling corrosion: Her mistake gnawed at her conscience.

[before 1000; Middle English; Old English gnagen, c. Old Saxon gnagan, Old High German (g)nagan, Old Norse gnaga]

gnaw′a•ble, adj.

gnaw′er, n.

gnaw

Past participle: gnawed/gnawn
Gerund: gnawing

Imperative
gnaw
gnaw

Present
I gnaw
you gnaw
he/she/it gnaws
we gnaw
you gnaw
they gnaw

Preterite
I gnawed
you gnawed
he/she/it gnawed
we gnawed
you gnawed
they gnawed

Present Continuous
I am gnawing
you are gnawing
he/she/it is gnawing
we are gnawing
you are gnawing
they are gnawing

Present Perfect
I have gnawed/gnawn
you have gnawed/gnawn
he/she/it has gnawed/gnawn
we have gnawed/gnawn
you have gnawed/gnawn
they have gnawed/gnawn

Past Continuous
I was gnawing
you were gnawing
he/she/it was gnawing
we were gnawing
you were gnawing
they were gnawing

Past Perfect
I had gnawed/gnawn
you had gnawed/gnawn
he/she/it had gnawed/gnawn
we had gnawed/gnawn
you had gnawed/gnawn
they had gnawed/gnawn

Future
I will gnaw
you will gnaw
he/she/it will gnaw
we will gnaw
you will gnaw
they will gnaw

Future Perfect
I will have gnawed/gnawn
you will have gnawed/gnawn
he/she/it will have gnawed/gnawn
we will have gnawed/gnawn
you will have gnawed/gnawn
they will have gnawed/gnawn

Future Continuous
I will be gnawing
you will be gnawing
he/she/it will be gnawing
we will be gnawing
you will be gnawing
they will be gnawing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been gnawing
you have been gnawing
he/she/it has been gnawing
we have been gnawing
you have been gnawing
they have been gnawing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been gnawing
you will have been gnawing
he/she/it will have been gnawing
we will have been gnawing
you will have been gnawing
they will have been gnawing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been gnawing
you had been gnawing
he/she/it had been gnawing
we had been gnawing
you had been gnawing
they had been gnawing

Conditional
I would gnaw
you would gnaw
he/she/it would gnaw
we would gnaw
you would gnaw
they would gnaw

Past Conditional
I would have gnawed/gnawn
you would have gnawed/gnawn
he/she/it would have gnawed/gnawn
we would have gnawed/gnawn
you would have gnawed/gnawn
they would have gnawed/gnawn

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	gnaw - bite or chew on with the teeth; "gnaw an old cracker" chew, manducate, masticate, jaw - chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth; "He jawed his bubble gum"; "Chew your food and don't swallow it!"; "The cows were masticating the grass" bite, seize with teeth - to grip, cut off, or tear with or as if with the teeth or jaws; "Gunny invariably tried to bite her"
	2.	gnaw - become ground down or deteriorate; "Her confidence eroded" eat at, erode, gnaw at, wear away decay, dilapidate, crumble - fall into decay or ruin; "The unoccupied house started to decay"

gnaw

verb

1. bite, chew, nibble, munch Woodlice attack living plants and gnaw at the stems.

2. distress, worry, trouble, harry, haunt, plague, nag, fret Doubts were already gnawing away at the back of his mind.

3. erode, consume, devour, eat away or into, wear away or down This run of bad luck has gnawed away at his usually optimistic character.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

gnaw

verb

1. To seize, as food, with the teeth:

bite, champ, chomp, gnash.

2. To consume gradually, as by chemical reaction or friction:

bite, corrode, eat, erode, wear, wear away.

Translations

يَقرِض، يَقضِم بِصَوت عالي

hryzatokousávat

gnave

nagen wühlen zernagen

ροκανίζω

pacer roer

jäytääjyrsiäkalvaa

ronger mâchouiller

glodati

rágrágcsál

naga

rodere rosicchiare

graužiantis

grauzt

hrýzť

glodatipreglodati se

kemirmek

啃

gnaw

[nɔː]

A. VT (= chew, also fig) → roer, carcomer
gnawed by doubts/hunger → atormentado por las dudas/el hambre

B. VI → roer
to gnaw through → roer or carcomer haciendo un agujero en
to gnaw at (lit, fig) → roer

gnaw off VT + ADV → roer

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

gnaw

[ˈnɔː] vt

(= chew) → ronger

to gnaw at sb [guilt, doubt] → ronger qn

gnaw away

vi [fear, feeling] → ronger
to gnaw away at sb → ronger qn

gnaw

vt → nagen an (+dat); fingernails also → kauen an (+dat); (rust, disease) → fressen an (+dat); hole → nagen; (fig) person (hunger, anxiety) → quälen; (remorse) → verzehren; to gnaw something off → etw abnagen; the box had been gnawed by the rats → die Ratten hatten die Kiste angenagt

vi → nagen; to gnaw at something → an etw (dat) → nagen; (rust, disease) → sich durch etw fressen; to gnaw at somebody (fig) → jdn quälen; to gnaw on something → an etw (dat) → nagen; to gnaw through something → etw durchnagen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

gnaw

[nɔː]

1. vt (chew) → rosicchiare, rodere (fig) (subj, remorse) → rodere; (hunger, pain) → tormentare

2. vi to gnaw through → rosicchiare da una parte all'altra
to gnaw at → rosicchiare (fig) → rodere

gnaw

(noː) verb

to bite or chew with a scraping movement. The dog was gnawing a large bone; The mice have gnawed holes in the walls of this room.

gnawing adjective

annoying; disturbing. a gnawing problem.

References in periodicals archive ?

Sinewy but wonderfully gnawable, it is cooked with no tenderizing imperative; rather, with a partiality to the delights of chewing into the grain of meat.

A sumptuous book on Batanes' modest food culture

She was taking the dog into her house, giving her own children another creature to love because Karen's home could accommodate more, always, whereas I saw the decision to take in the dog as a blunder, but the way I put it, (and Karen did love this dog, but certainly neither like a lover nor a child), was that I would no longer be able to visit her at her house because, of course, I was afraid of dogs, and especially bounding ones with whip-like tails who couldn't tell the difference between the inanimate arm of a chair, a stuffed pillow's gnawable surface, and human flesh.