ru·mi·nate

(ro͞o′mə-nāt′)

v. ru·mi·nat·ed, ru·mi·nat·ing, ru·mi·nates

v.intr.

1. To turn a matter over and over in the mind.

2. To chew cud.

v.tr.

To reflect on over and over again.

[Latin rūmināre, rūmināt-, from rūmen, rūmin-, throat.]

ru′mi·na′tive adj.

ru′mi·na′tive·ly adv.

ru′mi·na′tor n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

ruminator - a reflective thinker characterized by quiet contemplation

muser, ponderer, muller

thinker - someone who exercises the mind (usually in an effort to reach a decision)

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"'Tis time to change our natur's," he observed to the brother of his wife, who was rarely far from his elbow; "and to become ruminators, instead of people used to the fare of Christians and free men.

View in context

* 'As a long-standing ruminator I now realise these thoughts are the source of many anxieties.

Adaptation practice: teaching doctors how to cope with stress, anxiety and depression by developing resilience

Paul's Ruminator Books' satellite bookstore, located on the ground floor of the three-story Open Book complex and adjacent to the Coffee Gallery cafe.

Milkweed Editions to launch new book store in Minneapolis this June

According to the father of the "theory of contrary opinion", the Vermont Ruminator, Humphrey Bancroft Neill (1963 [1954]), the first step was to acknowledge that understanding how markets behave presupposes familiarity with the psychology of the market crowd (Neill, 1930: 9-12).

Markets, bodies, and rhythms: a rhythmanalysis of financial markets from open-outcry trading to high-frequency trading

Unfortunately the ruminator is stuck in the quick sand of mentally replaying the conversation repeatedly, reliving the painful parts, without shifting their thoughts towards more effective questions such as, 'how was I responsible here?' or 'what could I learn from this so that it doesn't happen again?'

The Rumination Trap

Despite the attempted re-imaging of Sor Juana by Aguiar y Seijas and others, the reformed and pious nun must have continued to compete in the imagination of her early eighteenth-century readers with other, more worldly Sor Juanas: the autodidact and polymath, the epistemological dreamer, the darling of the viceregal court, the brilliant literary successor to Calderon and Gongora, and the melancholy ruminator on the vicissitudes of love and fame.

Reminiscences of Sor Juana in a Festejo in the convent of San Jeronimo (Mexico City, 1756)

Harry, a ruminator, a dweller, cannot move forward; instead he forever stagnates, tangled in the politics of more powerful men.

Spiritual wickedness in high places: trauma, violence, and betrayal in Harlot's Ghost

If you happen to be a ruminator (someone who mulls, analyses, etc) you are at higher risk for absorbing negative messages from the environment.

ARE YOU JUST TOO TOUCHY?