Past participle of gnaw; something that has been bitten or scraped away with teeth.
From Old English gnagan. Gnawn is the irregular past participle of gnaw, following an ancient Germanic pattern similar to 'known' from 'know' or 'grown' from 'grow.'
Gnaw, gnawed, gnawn is an archaic past participle form—most people today say 'gnawed,' but gnawn survives in phrases like 'gnawn wood' in literary and technical writing!
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