gnaw

"Hunger is not something you can ignore or put out of your mind, it gnaws at your insides with increasing intensity," she continued, adding that hunger is particularly disruptive for children.

The creature is gnawing on some parmesan crust with its eyes squeezed shut, like eating the scraps is an experience to be savored with everything it has.

Beowulf gnawed anxiously on the back of his chair.

Beowulf had gnawed a perfectly usable letter opener out of a piece of wood.

Beowulf had given up building towers and was now gnawing on the blocks.