▪ I. † gnaw, n. Obs. rare—1.
[f. gnaw v.]
= gnawing vbl. n.
| 1735 Boyse Written in Pal. Falkland 44 Nine days I struggled—think the cruel strife! The gnaw of anguish, and the waste of life! |
▪ II. gnaw, v.
(nɔː)
Pa. tense gnawed. Pa. pple. gnawed, gnawn. Forms: 1 gnaᵹan, (2 gneȝeð, 3rd sing.), 3–6 gnawe, (4 gnaȝ-, gnaghe, 5 gnawyn, 6 Sc. gnau), 4, 7– gnaw; also 5 knawyn, 6 knaw-, knawe, 7–8 knaw. pa. tense (strong) 3 gneu, 3–5 gnow(e, (4 gnogh, gnowȝe, gnouȝ), 4–8 gnew, (5–6 gnewe); (weak) 4 gnawid-, 5 knawed, 8 knaw'd, 8– gnawed. pa. pple. (strong) 3 ignahen, 4, 6 gnawen, 4–5 gnawe, 6 knaw(e)n, Sc. gnawin, (gnaw), 6–7 gnawne, 7– gnawn; (weak) 7 knaw'd, 7– gnawed.
[OE. gnaᵹan, pa. tense *gnóᵹ, gnóᵹon (in forgnóᵹon, see forgnaw), pa. pple. gnaᵹen (in forgnaᵹen); corresponding to OHG. gnagan, nagen (MHG. and mod.G. nagen), ON. gnaga (Sw. gnaga, Da. gnave, also nage from LG.; mod.Icel. naga). Forms with initial k instead of g appear in OHG. chnagen, MDu. cnaghen, mod.Du. (and G. dial.) knagen. In English the spelling knaw is found occas. in 15th c., and is quite common during 16–17th c.; but this only implies that kn- and gn- were already identical in sound.
In the romance of Sir Amadas 247 a form gnave is found riming with grave, have, but this may be a case of assonance; compare, however, the mod. wave from ME. wawe.]
1. trans. To bite (something) persistently so as to injure it or remove portions of it; to wear away by a continued biting or nibbling.
| a 1000 Be Domes Dæᵹe (Lumby) 211 Hy wæl-grimme wyrmas slitað and heora ban gnaᵹað bryniᵹum tuxlum. c 1000 ælfric Gram. (Z.) 171/1 Rodo, ic gnaᵹe. 1023 in Thorpe Dipl. Angl. Aevi Sax. (1865) 318/29 Ðæt gewrit beo geworpen musen to gnaᵹene. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 43 Summe þer graninde sikeð, summe þer reowliche gneȝeð his aȝene tunge. c 1290 S.E. Leg. I. 206/230 Some [of the adders] heo gnowen, and some heo stounge; and some with scharpe tieth heom bite. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8632 To þe rode he sturte, & bigan to frete & gnawe Þe armes vaste & þies, & mid is teþ to drawe. c 1350 Parl. Three Ages 50 Gnattes gretely me greuede and gnewen myn eghne. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxii. 124 (Add. MS.) The maiden..gnewe [Harl. MS. bote] the Girdell with her tethe, and brake it on iii. peces. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. xviii, The ratte beganne thenne to byte the lace or cord, and so long he knawed it that the lace brake. 1526 Tindale Rev. xvi. 10 They gnewe [so 1535 Coverdale; 1611 gnawed] their tonges for sorowe. 1555 Eden Decades 122 Howe these woormes knawe and corrode the shyppes wee haue declared before. 1628 World Encomp. by Sir F. Drake 24 The remnants of Seales..which they had gnawne with their teeth like dogs. 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 117 [He] gnaw'd his pen, then dash'd it on the ground, Sinking from thought to thought. 1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. Dedekindus' Grobianus 33 Press'd with both Hands by wholesale Knaw your Meat. 1768 Ross Helenore (1789) 43 At last in twa the dowie raips he gnew. 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xix. 257, I could scarcely find any but what had been gnawn by insects. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 233 The stock of salted hides was considerable, and by gnawing them the garrison appeased the rage of hunger. 1881 Jefferies Wood Magic I. ii. 35 In the night she meant to have gnawn your throat. |
b. With adverbial or other complement, expressing the result of the action, as to gnaw away, gnaw off, gnaw out, gnaw up; gnaw asunder, gnaw in two.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6043 Þat beist þan gneu [other MSS. gnow(ȝe] vp al bidene þat þe thoner left. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 863 Wormes þan sal it al to-gnaw Til þe flesshe be gnawen oway and byten. 1535 Coverdale Baruch vi. 19 The serpentes and wormes..gnawe out their hertes. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 249. Ibid. 289 He..gnaw'd in two my cords. 1620 Shelton Quix. iii. xii. I. 243 After he had gnawn off almost the Half of one of his Nails. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows iii. §52. 282 A lion may stand in need of the helpe of a mouse to gnaw asunder the cord wherewith he is hampered. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) I. 204 He hath gnawed in twain my choicest line. 1873 Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap 1041 Some work of art gnawn hollow by Time's tooth. |
c. absol. or intr., often with preps. at, † on, upon.
| 13.. Coer de L. 5074 Many of the hethene houndes With her teeth gnow on the groundes. 1382 Wyclif Job xxx. 3 That gnowen [1388 gnawiden; L. rodebant] in wildernesse, waxende foul with wreechidnesse and sorewe. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxx. 110 (Harl. MS.) Twoo bestes..gnowe at the Rote of the tree with alle theire myght. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. xviii, He that is wonte and acustomed to robbe and gnawe, with grete payne he may absteyne him self fro hit. 1513 More Rich. III, Wks. 54/1 He returned..frowning and froting and knawing on hys lippes. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iv. 25, I saw..A thousand men that Fishes gnaw'd vpon. 1647 Cowley Mistr., Dialogue vii, That Worm which now the Core does wast, When long 't has gnaw'd within will break the skin at last. 1648 W. Jenkyn Blind Guide i. 8 As an hungry dog that teareth and gnaweth upon a dry bone, and can suck nothing out of it..by long gnawing upon it. 1843 Borrow Bible in Spain 322 Gaunt dogs were busy here, growling, tearing, and gnawing. 1877 Farrar Days of Youth xv. 145 The worm of sin gnaws deepest into the idle heart. |
2. Of destructive agents: To corrode, waste away, consume. (Cf. fret v. 3.) Said also of internal pains.
| 1530 Palsgr. 569/1, I gnawe, as wynde or the colyke gnaweth one in the belly, je trenchaysonne. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 31 b, For them whose guttes are gnawen or wounded..caused by a salte Flegma. 1599 H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner D 6 b, Pine-Nuts..much eaten, gnaw the stomach and belly. 1611 Coryat Crudities 58 In certaine places it [the Rhone] doth continually gnawe and eate his bankes. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. i. xv, But last when eating Time shal gnaw the proudest towers. 1655 Culpepper Riverius iii. i. 97 And for the breaking or corroding of the Tympane,..if there were formerly any vehement Causes that could break or gnaw the same [etc.]. |
3. fig. Said esp. of passion, remorse, etc. (cf. fret 3 b). † Also, to carp at.
| c 1230 Hali Meid. 29 Al þe este & al þe eise is her as þe oðre beoð godlese & ignahene. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxviii. 40 Enuy, that supposis reprofe in men when it may noght gnaghe þe life. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 115 So done these irefull thoughtes frette and gnawe the mynde of man or woman. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 353 Their consciences are always gnaw'd and tormented. 1749 Smollett Regicide ii. vii, Thy fears that I may 'scape, Like vultures gnaw thee! 1801 Southey Thalaba x. xxiv, The years that it has gnawn me! and the load Of sin that it has laid upon my soul! 1832 Lytton Eugene A. i. ix, Silently, he had gnawed his heart. 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. ix. xii. §10 As the flower is gnawed by frost, so every human heart is gnawed by faithlessness. |
b. absol. and intr.; esp. with preps. to gnaw at († gnaw on), gnaw into (cf. 1 c); also in indirect passive.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 207 My Coffers ransack'd, my reputation gnawne at. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. xii. 52 So that man..hath his heart all the day long, gnawed on by feare of death. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic i. i. (1840) 30 The eager desire after the knowledge of them gnawed into his very vitals. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 237 The rage which had long gnawed at his heart might burst forth. 1850 Hawthorne Scarlet L. xvii. (1879) 224 Torments that have so gnawed into thy life! 1859 ― Fr. & It. Jrnls. II. 227 Something gnawed within him, and kept him forever restless and miserable. 1880 G. Meredith Tragic Com. (1881) 303 The terrible mournfulness..of the truth gnawed within her. |
4. Comb.: † gnaw-bone, † gnaw-crust, terms of derision for one abjectly poor.
| 1607 A. Brewer Lingua v. ii, Begon ye gnawe-bone, raw-bone, rascal. 1611 Cotgr. Masche-crouste, a gnaw-crust, hungrie companion, snatch-crust. |
Hence gnawed ppl. a.; spec. in Bot. (see quot. 1832).
| 1820 Lond. Mag. June 631/2 Fragments of gnawed ginger⁓bread. 1832 Lindley Introd. Bot. 387 Gnawed (erosus) having the margin irregularly toothed, as if bitten by some animal. 1888 Daily News 30 Nov. 3/1 His [the squirrel's] traces lie about in plenty on the ground in the shape of gnawed fir-cones. |