How to Use gnaw at in a Sentence

gnaw at

phrasal verb

• There were the snakes, and the rats gnawing at the trunk.
  — Hari Kunzru, Harper's Magazine, 9 Dec. 2021
• 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, 9 Aug. 2022
• But something kept gnawing at her to take on the tougher challenge.
  — Sam Lubell, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024
• But something was gnawing at them: how did Mike Jones leave the area without a car?
  — Michelle Miller, CBS News, 6 May 2023
• The unanswered questions continued to gnaw at Steve in the weeks that followed.
  — Allie Weintraub, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2023
• Maira, your point about the NYC name-checking is something that’s been gnawing at me all season.
  — Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2023
• As Horton Sheff sat and took notes, a statistic gnawed at her conscience — 74% of Hartford eighth-graders could not read on grade level.
  — Alison Cross, Hartford Courant, 17 June 2024
• The case gnawed at him and other investigators for years.
  — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 27 June 2024
• For almost as long as Henry Louis Gates, Jr. can remember, questions about his heritage have gnawed at him.
  — Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 16 Feb. 2024
• What gnaws at Romero’s self-worth is the same cruel trick played on Boomer computer techies, sales reps and accountants across the corporate landscape.
  — Mark Kiszla, The Denver Post, 4 Jan. 2024
• What’s next Putin thinks the West is fractured and fractious, and will eventually permit him to gnaw at the weak points in its society and its defenses.
  — Trudy Rubin, Twin Cities, 15 May 2024
• Still, the idea of letting a rival come in to woo away viewers is a bit of a risk — a move tantamount to a homeowner letting termites come into a house and gnaw at its innards.
  — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 24 Sep. 2023
• Scissors gnawed at stems, razors sliced wrapping paper, and water slapped against dozens of empty vases.
  — Emily Davies, Washington Post, 14 Feb. 2024
• Three orcas, the large black-and-white dolphins also known as killer whales, worked in tandem; a large orca rammed the boat from the side while two smaller ones gnawed at the rudder until it was destroyed and the yacht was taking on water.
  — Rachel Riederer, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2023
• Invaded by Russia in 2014, Ukraine has watched its sovereignty being gnawed at during five years of low-level conflict; the prospect of its complete dismemberment looms.
  — Mira Rapp-Hooper, Foreign Affairs, 3 Oct. 2019
• Fellow chainsaw artist Evelyn Mogren has also been working to carve a wooden tableau of nature, featuring two bears playing, a beaver gnawing at a tree stump, and a fox chasing a rabbit for the town.
  — Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 22 Apr. 2024
• But unlike in 1990, the political class lacks the leadership to tackle structural issues gnawing at the heart of the country’s competitiveness.
  — William Wilkes, Bloomberg.com, 25 May 2023
• An inescapable hunger gnawed at his frequently empty stomach, and requests for food were often met with indifference if not open hostility.
  — Sarah Yang, Sunset Magazine, 2 Feb. 2023
• But political conflict is gnawing at those relationships.
  — Ali Martin, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Oct. 2023

Last Updated: 22 Dec 2024