Definition

1. Verb:
   • To think deeply about something; to meditate or ponder: To engage in careful, prolonged, and serious thought about a subject, often repeatedly.
   • To chew cud: In biology, to bring up previously swallowed food (cud) from the stomach to the mouth for further chewing, as done by animals like cows, sheep, and goats.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (To think deeply):
  • She needed time to ruminate on the feedback before responding.
  • He would often ruminate about the meaning of life.
• Verb (To chew cud):
  • The cows were peacefully ruminating in the field.
  • Goats, like other ruminants, must ruminate to digest their food properly.

Advanced Usage

• "to ruminate over/on/about something": To think deeply and at length about a particular topic.
  • He spent the evening ruminating on the day's strange events.
• Ruminative thought: A pattern of repetitive, often negative, deep thinking.
  • Her ruminative thoughts about the past were preventing her from moving forward.

Variants and Related Words

• Rumination (n): The act or process of ruminating.
  • His constant rumination on the problem was unproductive.
• Ruminant (n/adj): An animal that chews cud (e.g., a cow); or, characterized by or engaged in rumination.
  • Deer are ruminants.
  • She was in a ruminant state of mind.
• Ruminative (adj): Inclined to or characterized by deep thought.
  • He had a quiet, ruminative personality.

Synonyms

• Ponder: To think about something carefully.
• Contemplate: To look at or consider with continued attention.
• Meditate: To focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.
• Mull over: To think carefully about something over a period of time.
• Cogitate: To think deeply about something; to ponder.

Phrasal Verbs / Common Constructions

• Ruminate over: To think deeply about something.
  • She ruminated over the decision for weeks.
• Ruminate on: To be absorbed in thought about something.
  • The author ruminated on the themes of loss and memory.

Related Idioms

• Chew the cud: (Literally) To ruminate as an animal; (figuratively) to think deeply about something.
  • After the meeting, he sat chewing the cud, considering all the options.

Verb

1. 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
2. chew the cuds
   • cows ruminate