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
Her attitude is less one of fear than of gnawing bitterness at the anticlimax of her ending.
—
Sam Sacks, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
And yet even with these quiet moments inflating the film’s scant 70-minute running time, there’s a gnawing scent of doom in the air, the sense that Ryan’s time in his home will be pivotal and tragic.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2025
Rats damage infrastructure, contaminate food, and can start fires by gnawing through wires.
—Laura Paddison, CNN, 31 Jan. 2025
Despite all of this, Musa felt a gnawing emptiness in his life.
—David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gnaw
Sam Sacks, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
And yet even with these quiet moments inflating the film’s scant 70-minute running time, there’s a gnawing scent of doom in the air, the sense that Ryan’s time in his home will be pivotal and tragic.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2025
Rats damage infrastructure, contaminate food, and can start fires by gnawing through wires.
—Laura Paddison, CNN, 31 Jan. 2025
Despite all of this, Musa felt a gnawing emptiness in his life.
—David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gnaw
Cite this Entry
“Gnaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gnaw. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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