KJV Dictionary Definition: gnaw

gnaw

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.

gnawed

GNAW'ED, pp. naw'ed. Bit; corroded.

gnawing

GNAW'ING, ppr. naw'ing. Biting off by little and little; corroding; eating by slow degrees.