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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
ruminate
verb
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ As we ruminated, suddenly into our midst burst a young girl visibly in distress.
▪ Glover ruminated silently in a different direction.
▪ I was ruminating on his chances when my phone rang in the hallway.
▪ Mitchell ruminated on the hideous milky flesh, thinking, I am going to eat that octopus.
▪ She could surely be real sweet when she tried, he ruminated.
▪ There never was a time when I had not ruminated on these questions.
▪ What sort of life was that, Sandra ruminated.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ruminate

Ruminate \Ru"mi*nate\, Ruminated \Ru"mi*na`ted\, a. (Bot.) Having a hard albumen penetrated by irregular channels filled with softer matter, as the nutmeg and the seeds of the North American papaw.

Ruminate

Ruminate \Ru"mi*nate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ruminated; p. pr. & vb. n. Ruminating.] [L. ruminatus, p. p. of ruminari, ruminare, fr. rumen, -inis, throat, akin to ructare to belch, erugere to belch out, Gr. ?, AS. roccettan.]

  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.

Ruminate

Ruminate \Ru"mi*nate\, v. t.

  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.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
ruminate

1530s, "to turn over in the mind," also "to chew cud" (1540s), from Latin ruminatus, past participle of ruminare "to chew the cud; turn over in the mind," from rumen (genitive ruminis) "gullet," of uncertain origin. Related: Ruminated; ruminating.

Wiktionary
ruminate
  1. (context botany English) Having a hard albumen penetrated by irregular channels filled with softer matter, as the nutmeg and the seeds of the North American papaw. v

  2. 1 (context intransitive English) To chew cud. (Said of ruminants.) Involves regurgitate partially digested food from the rumen. 2 (context intransitive English) To meditate or reflect. 3 (context transitive English) To meditate or ponder over; to muse on.

WordNet
ruminate
  1. v. chew the cuds; "cows ruminate"

  2. reflect deeply on a subject; "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" [syn: chew over, think over, meditate, ponder, excogitate, contemplate, muse, reflect, mull, mull over, speculate]

Usage examples of "ruminate".

Kombo devoured his bandicoot, ruminating the while, and then spoke again.

The carpet of the great Sheikh was placed before his pavilion, and, seated on it alone, and smoking a chibouque of date wood, the patriarch ruminated.

I was thus ruminating, when it suddenly struck me that I was not likely now to succeed in the Church, but feeling great uncertainty as to the profession I ought to adopt, I took a fancy to transform myself into an officer, as it was evident that I had not to account to anyone for my actions.

Having thus ruminated, Sergeant Hoong set upon the meal with gusto, and made short work of it.

The ten-day journey to Fort Smith allowed Mrs Godsell time to ruminate on the HBC outports she passed along the riverbank.

Reverend Elial Starbuck thus ruminated about heredity, slavery, and feeblemindedness as he rode across the hot battlefield, yet he did not entirely ignore the cries that came from the parched, hurting men left helpless by the fighting.

In fact, when Partridge came to ruminate on the relation he had heard from Jones, he could not reconcile to himself that Mr.

These, besides being generally punier than any other cows in Shreveport right now, were resting from their long hike, all lying still and quiet, not even ruminating.

I was thus ruminating, when it suddenly struck me that I was not likely now to succeed in the Church, but feeling great uncertainty as to the profession I ought to adopt, I took a fancy to transform myself into an officer, as it was evident that I had not to account to anyone for my actions.

Old Man Blair was ruminating about the stones cast by hypocrites at that good woman when Senator Henry Wilson, sent by Lincoln, entered the small sitting room in the house Blair provided for his daughter across from the Mansion.

This time he thought Laetitia must have betrayed him, and bowing to Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer, gallantly pressing their fingers and responding to their becks and archnesses, he ruminated on his defences before he should accost her father.

Much might be ruminated here, concerning the essential dignity of this regal process, because in common life we esteem but meanly and contemptibly a fellow who anoints his hair, and palpably smells of that anointing.

The workroom where Janet and Dorothea's foster sister Ellen Gunn supervised the operation of the airfarm was deserted at this time of the evening, its cluttered desks abandoned, the com­puter displays and sophisticated business machines devoiced but still blinking as they ruminated electronically over cuds of data.

He played his cards decisively, no longer ruminating over discards, and it appeared to her that he had the disconcerting trick of summing up her hands with an accuracy that made her wonder bitterly if he could see through the cards.

To ruminate is to chew over again what has been already swallowed.