as in to erode
to consume or wear away gradually
time has gnawed that author's reputation to the point where he rates little more than a footnote
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Recent Examples of gnaw
During the pandemic, the soaring cost of essentials like food, fuel and rent only deepened the country's widespread precarity — a gnawing sense of financial insecurity that has left tens of millions of Americans vulnerable to job losses, medical problems and even modest economic dips.
—
Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 17 Jan. 2025
As Chubb’s career became defined by injuries, this move became a gnawing pain for Broncos Country, if not Elway.
—Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 8 Jan. 2025
Despite receiving several reports this spring about a family with an absent mother and gnawing hunger, the DCFS never opened a case — even after another school counselor called the hotline on May 13 to say that Williams’ mother had kicked him out of the house.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2024
In the ancient world and the new Hope’s the same for moth and monarch: hazy
Instrument of flight armies gnaw and gnash, leaving the dead
Uncovered like a girl ablaze
A century ago, crying for help, coveting just a drop of water.
—Paul Tran, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gnaw
Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 17 Jan. 2025
As Chubb’s career became defined by injuries, this move became a gnawing pain for Broncos Country, if not Elway.
—Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 8 Jan. 2025
Despite receiving several reports this spring about a family with an absent mother and gnawing hunger, the DCFS never opened a case — even after another school counselor called the hotline on May 13 to say that Williams’ mother had kicked him out of the house.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2024
In the ancient world and the new Hope’s the same for moth and monarch: hazy
Instrument of flight armies gnaw and gnash, leaving the dead
Uncovered like a girl ablaze
A century ago, crying for help, coveting just a drop of water.
—Paul Tran, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gnaw
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Cite this Entry
“Gnaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gnaw. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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