GNAWING
Etymology
Adjective
gnawing (comparative more gnawing, superlative most gnawing)
(of pain or hunger) severe or intense
Verb
gnawing
present participle of gnaw
Noun
gnawing (plural gnawings)
The process by which something is gnawed.
A sensation of being gnawed.
Anagrams
• wanging
Source: Wiktionary
GNAW
Gnaw, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gnawed; p. pr. & vb. n. Gnawing.] Etym:
[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, v. i.
Definition: 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition