From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishruminateru‧mi‧nate /ˈruːməneɪt/ verb [intransitive] 1 formalTHINK ABOUT to think carefully and deeply about somethingruminate on/over He sat alone, ruminating on the injustice of the world.2 technicalHBA if animals such as cows ruminate, they bring food back into their mouths from their stomachs and chew it again —rumination /ˌruːməˈneɪʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
ruminate• She could surely be real sweet when she tried, he ruminated.• What sort of life was that, Sandra ruminated.• 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.• There never was a time when I had not ruminated on these questions.• Glover ruminated silently in a different direction.• As we ruminated, suddenly into our midst burst a young girl visibly in distress.ruminate on/over• 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.• He ruminated on the idea and nervously plucked a cigarette from the green onyx box beside the telephone.• There never was a time when I had not ruminated on these questions.• Sitting furtively with my contraband, I ruminated on whether addiction itself is considered the moral problem.Origin ruminate (1500-1600) Latin past participle of ruminare, from rumen “throat” 