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.
• 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
• 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
• Gonna stick some Hank Williams on and gnaw on some brisket.
  — Joseph Goodman | [e-mail], al, 12 Feb. 2020
• The space from the plant is so mice and other rodents do not gnaw on the base of the plant.
  — oregonlive, 12 Dec. 2021
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Pesky squirrels who like to gnaw on those lines have to be dealt with.
  — Thomas Farragher, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Mar. 2018
• 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
• And yet, as the week went on, something kept gnawing at me.
  — Tim Funk, charlotteobserver, 8 Sep. 2017
• This eclipse is about releasing old gnawing thoughts and the hurts of the past.
  — Emily Simone, Allure, 15 July 2019
• The bread is thin but dense, its corners lovely to gnaw on.
  — Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 3 May 2018
• As the days passed with no word from him, anxiety gnawed at me.
  — Brian Barnett, STAT, 2 July 2018
• The country has little to do but wait and try not to gnaw itself to bits.
  — Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2021
• 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
• But the plastic bottles that littered the beach gnawed at them.
  — Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 20 Dec. 2019
• Is your baby more likely to gnaw on a board book than read it?
  — Maggie Panos, Woman's Day, 28 Feb. 2023
• For a few more years, Katie's lack of memory gnawed at her.
  — Maurice Chammah, Esquire, 22 May 2017
• 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
• So there are these little things that are starting to gnaw at him.
  — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 14 Oct. 2019
• That showed up in the gnawing cold before an announced crowd of 8,640.
  — Jon Meoli, baltimoresun.com, 11 Apr. 2018
• 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
• 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
• The yearning for meaning, or even a grander sense of plot, begins to gnaw at the viewer.
  — Corey Atad, Esquire, 12 June 2017
• They munch, dig, and gnaw on everything from tender plant shoots, tree buds and fruits, garden vegetables, and bulbs.
  — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 14 Sep. 2024
• There is so much rugged poetry contained in this film, and yet the palpable, gnawing horror is what sees it through.
  — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2024

Last Updated: 9 Dec 2024