ruminate

• POS: Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: ru=mi=nate

CIDE DICTIONARY

ruminate, v. i. [L. ruminatus, p. p. of ruminari, ruminare, fr. rumen, -inis, throat, akin to ructare to belch, erugere to belch out, Gr. , AS. roccettan.].

•  To chew the cud; to chew again what has been slightly chewed and swallowed.  Wordsworth.  [1913 Webster]
•  To think again and again; to muse; to meditate; to ponder; to reflect.  Cowper.  [1913 Webster]

  "Apart from the hope of the gospel, who is there that ruminates on the felicity of heaven?"  [1913 Webster]

ruminate, v. t. 

•  To chew over again.  [1913 Webster]
•  To meditate or ponder over; to muse on.  [1913 Webster]

  "Mad with desire, she ruminates her sin."  [1913 Webster]

  "What I know
  Is ruminated, plotted, and set down."  [1913 Webster]

ruminate, a. 

 Having a hard albumen penetrated by irregular channels filled with softer matter, as the nutmeg and the seeds of the North American papaw.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

ruminate, v.
1 tr. & (foll. by over, on, etc.) intr. meditate, ponder.
2 intr. (of ruminants) chew the cud.

Derivative

rumination n. ruminative adj. ruminatively adv. ruminator n.

THESAURUS

ruminate

be abstracted, bite, brood, brood over, champ, chaw, chew, chew over, chew the cud, chew up, chomp, chump, con over, consider, contemplate, crunch, debate, deliberate, deliberate over, deliberate upon, digest, excogitate, gnash, gnaw, grind, gum, introspect, masticate, meditate, meditate upon, mouth, mull over, mumble, munch, muse, muse on, muse over, nibble, perpend, play around with, play with, ponder, ponder over, reflect, reflect over, revolve, roll, ruminate over, run over, scrunch, speculate, study, think over, toy with, turn over, weigh

ROGET THESAURUS

ruminate

Intellect

VB note, notice, mark, take notice of, take cognizance of be aware of, be conscious of, realize, appreciate, ruminate, fancy.

Thought

VB think, reflect, cogitate, excogitate, consider, deliberate, bestow thought upon, bestow consideration upon, speculate, contemplate, meditate, ponder, muse, dream, ruminate, brood over, con over, animadvert, study, bend the mind, apply the mind, digest, discuss, hammer at, weigh, perpend, realize, appreciate, fancy, trow, take into consideration, take counsel, commune with oneself, bethink oneself, collect one's thoughts, revolve in the mind, turn over in the mind, run over in the mind, chew the cud upon, sleep upon, take counsel of one's pillow, advise with one's pillow, rack one's brains, ransack one's brains, crack one's brains, beat one's brains, cudgel one's brains, set one's brain to work, set one's wits to work, harbor an idea, entertain an idea, cherish an idea, nurture an idea, take into one's head, bear in mind, reconsider, occur, present itself, suggest itself, come into one's head, get into one's head, strike one, flit across the view, come uppermost, run in one s head, enter the mind, pass in the mind, cross the mind, flash on the mind, flash across the mind, float in the mind, fasten itself on the mind, be uppermost in the mind, occupy the mind, have in one's mind, make an impression, sink into the mind, penetrate into the mind, engross the thoughts.