Gnaw — Defs

01 v. t. 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 a…

imp. & p. p. Gnawed; p. pr. & vb. n. Gnawing

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.
4.
To trouble in a constant manner; to plague; to worry; to vex; -- usually used with at; as, his mounting debts gnawed at him.

02 v. i. To use the teeth in biting; to bite with repeated effort, as in eating or removing with the teeth something hard, unwieldy, or unmanageable.

1.
To use the teeth in biting; to bite with repeated effort, as in eating or removing with the teeth something hard, unwieldy, or unmanageable.
“I might well, like the spaniel, gnaw upon the chain that ties me.” — Sir P. Sidney.