GNAWS
Verb
gnaws
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of gnaw
Anagrams
• gawns, swang, wangs
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