FromMiddle Englishgnawen,gnaȝen, fromOld Englishgnagan, fromProto-Germanic*gnaganą. Cognate withDutchknagen,Germannagen,Danishgnave(“to gnaw”),Norwegian Bokmålgnage,Norwegian Nynorskgnaga,Swedishgnaga. Probably fromProto-Indo-European*gʰnēgʰ-(“to gnaw, scratch”).

• (UK)enPR:nô,IPA^(key):/nɔː/
• Rhymes:-ɔː
• (US)enPR:nô,IPA^(key):/nɔ/
• (cot–caught merger)enPR:nä,IPA^(key):/nɑ/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Homophone:nor(non-rhotic)

gnaw (third-person singular simple presentgnaws,present participlegnawing,simple pastgnawedor(dialectal)gnew,past participlegnawedor(archaic)gnawn)

1. (ambitransitive) Tobite something persistently, especially something tough.

   The doggnawed the bone until it broke in two.

   • c.1593 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene iv], line25:

     Ten thousand men that fishesgnaw'd upon

2. (intransitive) To produce excessive anxiety or worry.

   Her commentgnawed at me all day and I couldn't think about anything else.

3. Tocorrode; tofret away; towaste.
   • 1637,Thomas Heywood,The Royall King, and the Loyall Subject. […], London:[…]Nich[olas] and John Okes, for James Becket, […],→OCLC, Act III,signature E4, verso:

     VVots thou vvho's returnd, / The unthriftBonvile, ragged as a ſcarre-crovv / The VVarres havegnavv'd his garments to the skinne:[…]

• nag

gnaw (pluralgnaws)

1. the act of gnawing

   have agnaw of a bone

• AgNW,Ngwa,Wang,g'wan,gawn,gwan,wang

• IPA^(key):/ɡnau̯/

gnaw

1. Soft mutation ofknaw.