Learn about the difference between the homophones: gnaw and nor

Definitions

gnaw

Gnaw is a verb that means to bite or chew something persistently, especially something hard.

Example

The dog was gnawing on a bone.

Example

The rat had gnawed through the wire.

nor

Nor is a conjunction used to connect two negative ideas. It is used after neither and usually followed by an auxiliary verb and then the subject.

Example

I don't like coffee, nor do I like tea.

Example

Neither the teacher nor the students were happy with the test results.

Tips To Remember the Differences

Here are a few tips to easily distinguish the difference between these words while keeping in mind the description we've provided:

- To remember the difference between these two words, you can associate gnaw with chewing or biting something, like a bone. - For nor, think of it as a connector for two negative ideas, often used after 'neither'.