gnaw
/nɔː/
"gnaw" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gnaw” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #49,362. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #49,362
- frequency rank, English
- 18,276
- “G” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To bite something persistently, especially something tough.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gnaw · gnaw · English
gnaw · rank #49,362 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #49,362
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 18,276
- PHOTO-FINISH gloved
Nearest frequency peer: gloved (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “gnaw”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- glabrous
glabrous
50,642 corpus weight
- gloved
gloved
50,640 corpus weight
- gnaw
gnaw
50,639 corpus weight
- godson
godson
50,638 corpus weight
- grasse
grasse
50,636 corpus weight
- gravelly
gravelly
50,635 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “gnaw” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gnaw |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /nɔː/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #49,362 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gnaw” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around gnaw (IPA /nɔː/), averb. Corpus frequency is #49,362 among 18,276 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for gnaw, with forms such as "ganw", "ggnaw", and "gnaww". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "GTA", "GPA", "Goa", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). Cognate with Dutch knagen, German nagen, Danish gnave (… The correct English form is gnaw, spelled G-N-A-W.
Definition
- 1To bite something persistently, especially something tough.
- 2To produce excessive anxiety or worry.
- 3To corrode; to fret away; to waste.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how gnaw appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The dog gnawed the bone until it broke in two.
Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon
Etymology
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”). Cognate with Dutch knagen, German nagen, Danish gnave (“to gnaw”), Norwegian Bokmål gnage, Norwegian Nynorsk gnaga, Swedish gnaga.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ganw
- ggnaw
- gnaww
- gnnaw
- gnwa
- ngaw
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gnaw - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gnaw", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.