gnaw : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: gnaw	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for gnaw
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
gnaw v bite or chew on with the teeth; "gnaw an old cracker" become ground down or deteriorate; "Her confidence eroded" Synonym(s): erode, gnaw, gnaw at, eat at, wear away
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 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.