gnawer
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gnaw
(nô)v. gnawed, gnaw·ing, gnaws
v.tr.
1.
a. To bite, chew on, or erode with the teeth.
b. To produce by gnawing: gnaw a hole.
c. To erode or diminish gradually as if by gnawing: waves gnawing the rocky shore.
2. To afflict or worry persistently: fear that constantly gnawed me.
v.intr.
1. To bite or chew persistently: The dog gnawed at the bone.
2. To cause erosion or gradual diminishment.
3. To cause persistent worry or pain: Hunger gnawed at the prisoners.
[Middle English gnauen, from Old English gnagan.]
gnaw′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. |  gnawer - relatively small placental mammals having a single pair of constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawingeutherian, eutherian mammal, placental, placental mammal - mammals having a placenta; all mammals except monotremes and marsupials order Rodentia, Rodentia - small gnawing animals: porcupines; rats; mice; squirrels; marmots; beavers; gophers; voles; hamsters; guinea pigs; agoutis mouse - any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails rat - any of various long-tailed rodents similar to but larger than a mouse murine - a rodent that is a member of the family Muridae water rat - any of various amphibious rats New World mouse - a variety of rodent musquash, Ondatra zibethica, muskrat - beaver-like aquatic rodent of North America with dark glossy brown fur cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus - destructive long-haired burrowing rat of southern North America and Central America wood rat, wood-rat - any of various small short-tailed rodents of the northern hemisphere having soft fur grey above and white below with furred tails and large ears; some are hosts for Ixodes pacificus and Ixodes scapularis (Lyme disease ticks) hamster - short-tailed Old World burrowing rodent with large cheek pouches gerbil, gerbille - small Old World burrowing desert rodent with long soft pale fur and hind legs adapted for leaping lemming - any of various short-tailed furry-footed rodents of circumpolar distribution jumping mouse - any of several primitive mouselike rodents with long hind legs and no cheek pouches; of woodlands of Eurasia and North America jerboa - mouselike jumping rodent dormouse - small furry-tailed squirrel-like Old World rodent that becomes torpid in cold weather squirrel - a kind of arboreal rodent having a long bushy tail prairie dog, prairie marmot - any of several rodents of North American prairies living in large complex burrows having a barking cry marmot - stocky coarse-furred burrowing rodent with a short bushy tail found throughout the northern hemisphere; hibernates in winter beaver - large semiaquatic rodent with webbed hind feet and a broad flat tail; construct complex dams and underwater lodges Aplodontia rufa, mountain beaver, sewellel - bulky nocturnal burrowing rodent of uplands of the Pacific coast of North America; the most primitive living rodent cavy - short-tailed rough-haired South American rodent Dolichotis patagonum, mara - hare-like rodent of the pampas of Argentina capibara, capybara, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris - pig-sized tailless South American amphibious rodent with partly webbed feet; largest living rodent agouti, Dasyprocta aguti - agile long-legged rabbit-sized rodent of Central America and South America and the West Indies; valued as food Cuniculus paca, paca - large burrowing rodent of South America and Central America; highly esteemed as food mountain paca - rodent of mountains of western South America coypu, Myocastor coypus, nutria - aquatic South American rodent resembling a small beaver; bred for its fur Chinchilla laniger, chinchilla - small rodent with soft pearly grey fur; native to the Andes but bred in captivity for fur mountain chinchilla, mountain viscacha - a rodent native to the mountains of Chile and Peru and now bred in captivity mole rat - furry short-limbed tailless rodent resembling a true mole in habits and appearance; of eastern Europe and Middle East mole rat - African rodent resembling a mole in habits and appearance sand rat - small nearly naked African mole rat of desert areas |
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