gnaw
English Edit
Etymology Edit
From Middle English gnawen, gnaȝen, from Old English gnagan, from Proto-Germanic *gnaganą. Cognate with Dutch knagen, German nagen, Norwegian Bokmål gnage, Norwegian Nynorsk gnaga, Swedish gnaga. Probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʰnēgʰ- (“to gnaw, scratch”).
Pronunciation Edit
- (UK) enPR: nô, IPA(key): /nɔː/
- Rhymes: -ɔː
- (US) enPR: nô, IPA(key): /nɔ/
- (cot–caught merger) enPR: nä, IPA(key): /nɑ/
Audio (US) (file) - Homophone: nor (in non-rhotic accents)
Verb Edit
gnaw (third-person singular simple present gnaws, present participle gnawing, simple past gnawed or (dialectal) gnew, past participle gnawed or (archaic) gnawn)
- (transitive, intransitive) To bite something persistently, especially something tough.
- The dog gnawed the bone until it broke in two.
- 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:
- Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon
- (intransitive) To 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.
- 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:
- VVots thou vvho's returnd, / The unthrift Bonvile, ragged as a ſcarre-crovv / The VVarres have gnavv'd his garments to the skinne: […]
Derived terms Edit
Related terms Edit
Translations Edit
to bite something persistently
|
to produce anxiety or worry
Noun Edit
gnaw (plural gnaws)
- the act of gnawing
- have a gnaw of a bone
Anagrams Edit
Middle Welsh Edit
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
gnaw
- Soft mutation of knaw.
Mutation Edit
Middle Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
Radical | Soft | Nasal | Aspirate |
knaw | gnaw | knaw / chnaw pronounced with /ŋ̊-/ |
chnaw |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |