gnaw at

phrasal verb

gnawed at; gnawing at; gnaws at

: to be a source of worry or concern to (someone)

This problem has been gnawing at me day and night.

She says she's fine, but I can see that something is gnawing at her.

Examples of gnaw at in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Rising grocery prices, in particular, have gnawed at consumer sentiments, and were seen as a key factor in Trump’s victory in November. —

Don Lee, Los Angeles Times, 18 Dec. 2024 The intrusion, however, gnawed at the thing, complicating and challenging it: What future, when this audience applauds the silencing of dissent? —

Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2024 To delve into that sort of darkness more might be upsetting, and potentially less brand-friendly for Universal, but the surface level-focus of Death Becomes Her kept gnawing at me. —

Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024 Meanwhile, the factor of the unknown can gnaw at an antagonist’s imagination, filling an entire community with fear and adding a dimension of psychological warfare to the other challenges tunnel warfare poses. —

Arthur Herman, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2014 See all Example Sentences for gnaw at