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.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913.