GNAW, v.t. naw. [ Gr. to scrape.] 1. To bite off by little and little; to bite or scrape off with the fore teeth; to wear away by biting. The rats gnaw a board or plank; a worm gnaws the wood of a tree or the plank of a ship.2. To eat by biting off small portions of food with the fore teeth.3. To bite in agony or rage. They gnawed their tongues for pain. Rev.16.4. To waste; to fret; to corrode.5. To pick with the teeth. His bones clean picked; his very bones they gnaw.GNAW, v.i. naw. To use the teeth in biting. I might well, like the spaniel, gnaw upon the chain that ties me.
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