Ronger (en. To gnaw)

/ʁɔ̃ʒe/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

verb

The action of eating or nibbling something little by little.

Rats gnaw the wood of old houses.

Les rats rongent le bois des vieilles maisons.

To create a slow degradation or damage.

The feeling of guilt was gnawing at him from the inside.

Le sentiment de culpabilité le rongeait de l'intérieur.

To erode, to wear away through a repetitive process.

Water erodes rocks over time.

L'eau ronge les roches au fil du temps.

From Old French 'rongier', meaning 'to eat, to devour'.

to bite one's nails

To have the habit of biting one's nails, often due to anxiety.

ronger les ongles

gnawed by doubt

To be constantly worried or uncertain about something.

ronger par le doute

to pass time slowly

To make time pass slowly out of boredom.

ronger le temps

gnawing

The state of something that has been gnawed.

rongement

gnawing

The process by which something is gnawed.

rongerment

To be gnawed by envy

He is gnawed by envy seeing his friend's success.

Il ronge d'envie en voyant le succès de son ami.

To rack one's brains

He is racking his brains to find a solution to his problem.

Il se ronge les méninges pour trouver une solution à son problème.