gnaw
/nɔː/verb
no obj.
1- bite at or nibble something persistently咬, 啃, 啮：
picking up the pig's foot, he gnawed at it.
他拿起猪蹄啃起来。
1.1
- with obj. and adverbial bite at or nibble (something) until it reaches a specified size or state咬（或啃）成（一定大小或状态）：
she had gnawed her fingers to the bone.
她已经把手指咬得见了骨头。
1.2
- figurative (of something painful to the mind or body) cause persistent and wearing distress or anxiety〈喻〉烦扰; 折磨：
the doubts continued to gnaw at me
这些疑问一直折磨着我
as adj. gnawing that gnawing pain in her stomach.她那折磨人的胃痛。
派生词
gnawingly
adverb词源
Old English gnagen, of Germanic origin; related to German nagen, ultimately imitative.