gn -abbr

  1. guinea

gnar ['när] -vi

  1. snarl, growl

gnarl ['när(-ə)l] -vi

  1. snarl, growl
  2. to twist into a state of deformity
  3. a hard protuberance with twisted grain on a tree

gnarled ['när(-ə)ld] -adj

  1. full of knots or gnarls : knotty
    • gnarled hands
  2. crabbed in disposition, aspect, or character

gnarly ['när-lē] -adj

  1. gnarled
  2. difficult, hairy
    • skidded around gnarly hairpin turns -- Austin Murphy
  3. bad, nasty
    • has some pretty gnarly karma coming -- Drew Barrymore
  4. cool, good

gnash ['nash] -vt, n

  1. to strike or grind (as the teeth) together

gnat ['nat] -n, adj

  1. any of various small usu. biting dipteran flies

gnat·catch·er ['nat-,ka-chər, -,ke-] -n

  1. any of a genus ( Polioptila) of several small No. and So. American insectivorous oscine birds

gnath·ic ['na-thik] -adj

  1. of or relating to the jaw

gnaw ['nȯ] -vb, n

  1. to bite or chew on with the teeth
  2. to wear away by persistent biting or nibbling
    • a dog gnaw ing a bone
  3. to make by gnawing
    • rats gnaw ed a hole
  4. to be a source of vexation to : plague
    • anxiety always gnaw ing him
  5. to affect like gnawing
    • hunger gnaw ing her vitals
  6. erode, corrode
  7. to bite or nibble persistently
    • gnaw ing at his underlip
  8. to produce an effect of or as if of gnawing
    • waves gnaw ing away at the cliffs

gneiss ['nīs] -n, adj

  1. a foliated metamorphic rock corresponding in composition to a feldspathic plutonic rock (as granite)

GNMA -abbr

  1. Government National Mortgage Association

gnoc·chi ['nȯ-kē, 'nyȯ-, 'nä-] -n pl

  1. dumplings usu. made with potato or semolina and served with sauce

gnome ['nōm] -n

  1. maxim, aphorism
  2. an ageless and often deformed dwarf of folklore who lives in the earth and usu. guards treasure
  3. an elemental being in the theory of Paracelsus that inhabits earth

gno·mic ['nō-mik] -adj

  1. characterized by aphorism
    • gnomic utterances
  2. given to the composition of gnomic writing
    • a gnomic poet

gno·mon ['nō-mən, -,män] -n

  1. : an object that by the position or length of its shadow serves as an indicator esp. of the hour of the day: as
  2. the pin of a sundial
  3. a column or shaft erected perpendicular to the horizon
  4. the remainder of a parallelogram after the removal of a similar parallelogram containing one of its corners

gno·sis ['nō-səs] -n

  1. esoteric knowledge of spiritual truth held by the ancient Gnostics to be essential to salvation

gnos·tic ['näs-tik] -n, adj

  1. an adherent of gnosticism

gnos·ti·cism ['näs-tə-,si-zəm] -n

  1. the thought and practice esp. of various cults of late pre-Christian and early Christian centuries distinguished by the conviction that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through gnosis

gno·to·bi·ot·ic [,nō-tō-bī-'ä-tik, -bē-] -adj, adv

  1. of, relating to, living in, or being a controlled environment containing one or a few kinds of organisms
  2. axenic

GNP -abbr

  1. gross national product

GnRH -abbr

  1. gonadotropin-releasing hormone

gnu ['nü also 'nyü] -n

  1. wildebeest