nag

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to pester with persistent complaints or demands

   She kept nagging him to fix the leaking tap.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

The verb nag began as a northern English word meaning “gnaw or nibble” and probably came from a Scandinavian or German source before acquiring the sense “find fault persistently.” The noun nag for an old or worn-out horse is unrelated: it dates from Middle English and may come from early Dutch or be connected with neigh.

First recorded in the early 19th century, of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian and Swedish nagga ('to gnaw, nibble, irritate'), from Proto-Germanic *gnag-.

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