gnaw
/nɔ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.56 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Example Sentences
- "The dog gnawed the bone until it broke in two."
- "Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon"
- "Her comment gnawed at me all day and I couldn't think about anything else."
- "VVots thou vvho's returnd, / The unthrift Bonvile, ragged as a ſcarre-crovv / The VVarres have gnavv'd his garments to the skinne: […]"
- "give something a gnaw"
- "have a gnaw of a bone"
Etymology
From Middle English gnawen, gnaȝen, from Old English gnagan, from Proto-West Germanic *gnagan, from Proto-Germanic *gnaganą (“to gnaw”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʰnēgʰ- (“to gnaw, scratch”). Cognate with Dutch knagen, German nagen, Danish gnave (“to gnaw”), Norwegian Bokmål gnage, Norwegian Nynorsk gnaga, Swedish gnaga.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: gnawen, gnagan, *gnagan, *gnaganą, *gʰnēgʰ-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /nɔ/
- British English: /nɔː/