ruminant Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of various cud-chewing hoofed mammals having a stomach divided into four (occasionally three) compartments
  2. adjective related to or characteristic of animals of the suborder Ruminantia or any other animal that chews a cud
    • ruminant mammals

WordNet

Ru"mi*nant adjective
Etymology
L. ruminans, -antis, p.pr.: cf. F. ruminant. See Ruminate.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) Chewing the cud; characterized by chewing again what has been swallowed; of or pertaining to the Ruminantia.
Ru"mi*nant noun
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) A ruminant animal; one of the Ruminantia.

Webster 1913