gnaw

Meanings

Verb

• To bite something persistently, especially something tough.
• To produce excessive anxiety or worry.
• To corrode; to fret away; to waste.

Noun

• the act of gnawing

Origin

• From Middle English gnawen, gnaȝen, from Old English gnagan, from Proto-Germanic *gnaganą. Cognate with Dutch knagen, German nagen, Norwegian Bokmål gnage, Norwegian Nynorsk gnaga, Swedish gnaga. Probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʰnēgʰ-