/ næg; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb ( -gg- ) nag (at sb)
1.
to keep complaining to sb about their behaviour or keep asking them to do sth
SYN pester :
[ v ]
Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can.
[ vn to inf ]
She had been nagging him to paint the fence.
[also vn ]
2.
to worry or irritate you continuously :
[ v ]
A feeling of unease nagged at her.
[ vn ]
Doubts nagged me all evening.
■ noun
( old-fashioned , informal ) a horse
••
WORD ORIGIN
verb early 19th cent. (originally dialect in the sense gnaw ): perhaps of Scandinavian or Low German origin; compare with Norwegian and Swedish nagga gnaw, irritate and Low German ( g)naggen provoke.
noun Middle English : of unknown origin.