ruminate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb chew the cuds
    • cows ruminate
  2. verb reflect deeply on a subject
    ponder; mull; muse; think over; reflect; contemplate; meditate; chew over; mull over; excogitate; speculate.
    • I mulled over the events of the afternoon
    • philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years
    • The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate

WordNet

Ru"mi*nate intransitive verb
Etymology
L. ruminatus, p.p. of ruminari, ruminare, fr. rumen, -inis, throat, akin to ructare to belch, erugere to belch out, Gr. , AS. roccettan.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Ruminated ; present participle & verbal noun Ruminating
Definitions
  1. To chew the cud; to chew again what has been slightly chewed and swallowed. "Cattle free to ruminate." Wordsworth.
  2. Fig.: To think again and again; to muse; to meditate; to ponder; to reflect. Cowper.
    Apart from the hope of the gospel, who is there that ruminates on the felicity of heaven? I. Taylor.
Ru"mi*nate transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To chew over again.
  2. Fig.: To meditate or ponder over; to muse on.
    Mad with desire, she ruminates her sin. Dryden.
    What I know Is ruminated, plotted, and set down. Shak.
Ru"mi*nate, Ru"mi*na`ted adjective (Also<
  • Ruminate
  • Ruminated
)
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) Having a hard albumen penetrated by irregular channels filled with softer matter, as the nutmeg and the seeds of the North American papaw.

Webster 1913