gnaw
Pronunciation Verb

gnaw (gnaws, present participle gnawing; past gnawed, past participle gnawed)

  1. (ambitransitive) To bite something persistently, especially something tough.
    The dog gnawed the bone until it broke in two.
    • 1592-94?, Shakespeare, Richard III (play), Act I, Scene iv, line 25:
      Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon;
  2. (intransitive) To produce excessive anxiety or worry.
    Her comment gnawed at me all day and I couldn't think about anything else.
  3. To corrode; to fret away; to waste.
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