ruminate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
-
to chew again or over and over.
-
to meditate on; ponder.
verb
-
(of ruminants) to chew (the cud)
-
to meditate or ponder (upon)
Usage
What does ruminate mean? To ruminate is to carefully think something over, ponder it, or meditate on it.It can also mean to chew over and over again, as is done by ruminant animals, like cows.In psychology, the term means to obsessively repeat thoughts or excessively think about problems.In all cases, the process of ruminating is called rumination.Example: After ruminating about it for months, I have decided to pursue a new career.
Other Word Forms
- nonruminating adjective
- nonruminatingly adverb
- nonruminative adjective
- ruminatingly adverb
- rumination noun
- ruminative adjective
- ruminatively adverb
- ruminator noun
- unruminated adjective
- unruminating adjective
- unruminatingly adverb
- unruminative adjective
Etymology
Origin of ruminate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin rūminātus (past participle of rūminārī, rūmināre “to ruminate”), equivalent to rūmin- (stem of rūmen “throat, gullet”; rumen ) + -ātus past participle suffix ( -ate 1 )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The patience and stillness that Clint has built into the film allows people to then ruminate on their own life while going on Robert’s journey in a way that’s significant.”
From Los Angeles Times
Instead, she ruminates on how microchimerism might change our understanding of ourselves.
No more camping out in Abbey Road studios, the Beatles’ favorite laboratory, hiring out string sections and horn sections, ruminating over tracks for as long as it took.
From Los Angeles Times
But rather than ruminating on the global picture, "It makes me hopeful when I see individual action happening on smaller local levels, people using their voices and speaking up or taking action."
From Barron's
We roam relentlessly through our memories of the past and ruminate restlessly on the future, thinking, if only it was this perfectly verifiable way, or that exactly quantifiable way.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
