ronger

to gnaw, to chew, to eat away at, to torment

ʁ ɔ̃ . ʒ e
rong gnaw + er Infinitive
verb Rare #34,548
to gnaw, to chew Usually used for biting something repeatedly, such as nails or bones.
FR: Le chien aime ronger ses jouets.
EN: The dog likes to chew on its toys.
to eat away at, to torment Figurative: used when a worry or feeling is troubling someone.
FR: Il laisse cette inquiétude le ronger.
EN: He lets this worry eat away at him.
Conjugation of ronger
Indicative present
SingularPlural
First ronge —
Third ronge —
Subjunctive present
SingularPlural
First ronge —
Third ronge —
Imperative
SingularPlural
Second ronge —
ronger
Past

J'ai la mauvaise habitude de me ronger les ongles.

I have the bad habit of biting my nails.

Qu'est-ce qui peut bien le ronger ?

What could possibly be eating away at him?

Ça va ronger la coque, nom de Dieu.

It’s going to eat away at the hull, for God’s sake.

— Alien, le huitième passager (1979)

Arrêtez de vous ronger les ongles.

Stop biting your nails.

— Rebecca (1940)

Ronger tes ongles est une mauvaise habitude.

Biting your nails is a bad habit.

Mon chien aime ronger des os.

My dog likes to gnaw bones.

Arrête de ronger tes ongles.

Stop biting your nails.

J'ai arrêté de me ronger les ongles.

I stopped biting my nails.

— La Mouche (1986)

Je préférerais me ronger un bras.

I'd rather gnaw off my arm.

— Zootopie 2 (2025)

Elle a l'habitude de se ronger les ongles.

She has a habit of biting her nails.

Sounds similar to