Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Gnaw
Gnaw
(na̤)
, Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Gnawed
(na̤d)
; 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.
Gnaw
,Verb.
I.
To use the teeth in biting; to bite with repeated effort, as in eating or removing with the teeth something hard, unwieldy, or unmanageable.
I might well, like the spaniel,
gnaw
upon the chain that ties me. Sir P. Sidney.
Webster 1828 Edition
Gnaw
GNAW
,Verb.
T.
naw.
1.
To bite off by little and little; to bite or scrape off with the fore teeth; to wear away by biting. The rats gnaw a board or plank; a worm gnaws the wood of a tree or the plank of a ship.2.
To eat by biting off small portions of food with the fore teeth.3.
To bite in agony or rage. They gnawed their tongues for pain. Rev.16.
4.
To waste; to fret; to corrode.5.
To pick with the teeth. His bones clean picked; his very bones they gnaw.
GNAW
,Verb.
I.
naw.
I might well, like the spaniel, gnaw upon the chain that ties me.