gnash

/næʃ/ (bre, ipa) · /næʃ/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈnash/ (ame, mw)

gnash — verb

  • gnashpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • gnasheshe / she / it
  • gnashedpast simple
  • gnashing-ing form

1. to rub your top and bottom teeth together hard, usually because you are very ang

1.動詞及物C2
釋義

to rub your top and bottom teeth together hard, usually because you are very angry, frustrated, or in pain.

例句

Yan gnashed his teeth when the referee waved off the winning goal.

collocation: gnash + one's teeth (in anger)

Lucía lay awake gnashing her teeth at the thought of the unpaid loan.

gnash + teeth showing strong frustration

同義詞
  • grind

    more neutral; can describe steady, non-emotional grinding (e.g. teeth grinding during sleep)

  • grit

    implies pressing teeth together silently to endure pain or hold back emotion, not the loud rubbing of gnash

  • clench

    tight closure of the jaw; no side-to-side rubbing

文法句型

gnash + one's teeth

用法筆記

Almost always paired with 'teeth' as the object — the fixed phrase 'gnash one's teeth' is the standard pattern, and the noun form 'gnashing of teeth' is a common literary or biblical idiom for despair.

常見錯誤

❌She gnashed her fists in anger.
✅She gnashed her teeth in anger.
💡'gnash' only collocates with 'teeth'; you cannot gnash other body parts.
❌The dog gnashed loudly.
✅The dog gnashed its teeth loudly.
💡'gnash' nearly always needs an explicit 'teeth' object; intransitive use sounds odd.