gnash

English

WOTD – 18 March 2007

Etymology

From Middle English gnasten. Origin unknown; the word is probably either Germanic or onomatopoeic. Compare Old Norse gnastan, Danish gnaske ("munch", "crunch"), German knirschen, German Low German gnirschen, gnörschen (“gnash”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /næʃ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æʃ

• Homophone: Nash

Verb

gnash (third-person singular simple present gnashes, present participle gnashing, simple past and past participle gnashed)

1. (transitive) To grind (one's teeth) in pain or in anger.

   gnashing your teeth

2. (transitive) To grind between the teeth.

   to gnash the air in fury

   The dog was gnashing a carpet

3. (figurative) To clash together violently.
   • 1887, H. Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure‎^[1]:

     There they were, boiling up in snowy spouts of spray, smiting and gnashing together like the gleaming teeth of hell.

4. (Geordie) To run away.

Derived terms

• gnasher/gnashers
• gnashy

Translations

to grind one's teeth in pain or in anger

• Bulgarian: скърцам със зъби (skǎrcam sǎs zǎbi)
• Danish: skære tænder
• Dutch: tandenknarsen (nl), knarsetanden (nl)
• Galician: rilar (gl), rillar (gl)
• German: knirschen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: βρύκω (brúkō), βρύχω (brúkhō), γομφιάζω (gomphiázō)

• Hungarian: csikorgatja a fogát (hu), fogát csikorgatja (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: digrignare (it), dirugginire, sbattere (it), scuotere (it)
• Latin: frendo
• Maori: tetē, tetēā, whakatetēā, nenē
• Norwegian: skjære tenner
• Persian: ساییدن (fa) (sâyidan)
• Polish: zgrzytać (pl) impf
• Romanian: scrâșni (ro), scrâșni din dinți
• Russian: скрежета́ть (ru) (skrežetátʹ)
• Spanish: crujir de dientes

Noun

gnash (plural gnashes)

1. A sudden snapping of the teeth.

Anagrams

• Ghans, Shang, hangs