gnaw
/nɔ/verb, noun
gnaw is spelled G-N-A-W: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, gnaw means “To bite something persistently, especially something tough” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gnaw?
| Letters | 4: G-N-A-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gnaw?
Gnaw appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gnaw?
- UK /nɔː/
- US /nɔ/
- /nɑ/
Gnaw has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-gnaw.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with gnaw
Sounds like: nor (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with gnaw?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gnaw from its last stressed vowel (/ɔ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: wang, gwan, gawn.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of gnaw
- gnaws present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- gnawing participle, present
- gnawed past, participle
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gnaw mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To bite something persistently, especially something tough.
The dog gnawed the bone until it broke in two.
- 2
To produce excessive anxiety or worry.
Her comment gnawed at me all day and I couldn't think about anything else.
- 3
To corrode; to fret away; to waste.
noun
- 1
The act of gnawing.
give something a gnaw
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gnaw in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ronger , harceler, préoccuper |
| German | nagen, kauen, knabbern , verfolgen, umtreiben |
| Portuguese | roer, morder |
| Spanish | roer, rosigar, carcomer, chancomer, rustir, morder |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does gnaw come from?
From Middle English gnawen, gnaȝen, from Old English gnagan, from Proto-West Germanic *gnagan, from Proto-Germanic *gnaganą (“to gnaw”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʰnēgʰ- (“to gnaw, scratch”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).