How to Use gnaw in a Sentence
gnaw
verb
- The dog was gnawing a bone.
- Rabbits had gnawed a hole in the hedge.
- Rabbits have gnawed at the hedge.
- He nervously gnawed on his fingernails.
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That will require the lorises to gnaw on the wood to get the gum out of the tubes.
—
Amy Schwabe,
Journal Sentinel,
13 Feb. 2023
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The roof rat will gnaw on the ripe fruit, opening a 2-3 inch hole in the rind.
—
Michael Harrelson,
sandiegouniontribune.com,
12 Apr. 2018
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Gonna stick some Hank Williams on and gnaw on some brisket.
—
Joseph Goodman | [email protected],
al,
12 Feb. 2020
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The space from the plant is so mice and other rodents do not gnaw on the base of the plant.
—
oregonlive,
12 Dec. 2021
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This is a life shaped for the bounce and prowl of R & B, not the gnawing stasis of the blues.
—
Matthew Gavin Frank,
Harper's Magazine,
4 May 2023
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Some bone lovers believe that the wee bits gnawed off the bone are the best, the sweetest bits of all.
—
Bill St. John,
The Denver Post,
10 July 2019
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He is gone now, and the waves gnaw at the shore and the island slowly sinks into the sea.
—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harper’s Magazine ,
17 Aug. 2022
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Pesky squirrels who like to gnaw on those lines have to be dealt with.
—
Thomas Farragher,
BostonGlobe.com,
27 Mar. 2018
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Don't worry—the rope on this bridge is much more durable than the one in the movie and is ready to be chewed and gnawed on.
—
Tainaya Nash,
House Beautiful,
25 June 2019
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And yet, as the week went on, something kept gnawing at me.
—
Tim Funk,
charlotteobserver,
8 Sep. 2017
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This eclipse is about releasing old gnawing thoughts and the hurts of the past.
—
Emily Simone,
Allure,
15 July 2019
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The bread is thin but dense, its corners lovely to gnaw on.
—
Ligaya Mishan,
New York Times,
3 May 2018
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As the days passed with no word from him, anxiety gnawed at me.
—
Brian Barnett,
STAT,
2 July 2018
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The country has little to do but wait and try not to gnaw itself to bits.
—
Washington Post,
20 Apr. 2021
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An electric line runs from a pole on the street into a hole in the façade that looks like it was gnawed out.
—
Adriane Quinlan,
Curbed,
9 Aug. 2023
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But the plastic bottles that littered the beach gnawed at them.
—
Megan Cerullo,
CBS News,
20 Dec. 2019
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Is your baby more likely to gnaw on a board book than read it?
—
Maggie Panos,
Woman's Day,
28 Feb. 2023
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For a few more years, Katie's lack of memory gnawed at her.
—
Maurice Chammah,
Esquire,
22 May 2017
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Even if a hole doesn't start out that large, the rodents gnaw their way to make the opening larger.
—
Beth Kaufman,
Good Housekeeping,
26 Jan. 2021
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So there are these little things that are starting to gnaw at him.
—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
14 Oct. 2019
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That showed up in the gnawing cold before an announced crowd of 8,640.
—
Jon Meoli,
baltimoresun.com,
11 Apr. 2018
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Even if a hole doesn't start out that large, the rodents can gnaw their way to make the opening larger.
—
Beth Kaufman,
Good Housekeeping,
26 May 2017
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Even if a hole doesn't start out that large, the rodents can gnaw their way to make the opening larger.
—
Beth Kaufman,
Good Housekeeping,
23 May 2018
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The yearning for meaning, or even a grander sense of plot, begins to gnaw at the viewer.
—
Corey Atad,
Esquire,
12 June 2017
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In the video footage, the dog begins gnawing on the battery, which explodes in a matter of seconds before sparks fly and an initial flame emerges.
—
Danielle Jennings,
Peoplemag,
7 Aug. 2024
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Subsurface chewing insects can be gnawing away at the roots of your lawn grasses leading to a quick collapse of green when the real heat moves in.
—
Paul Cappiello,
The Courier-Journal,
9 Aug. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gnaw.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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