RU'MINATE, verb intransitive [Latin rumino, from rumen, the cud.]

1. To chew the cud; to chew again what has been slightly chewed and swallowed. Oxen, sheep, deer, goats, camels, hares and squirrels ruminate in fact; other animals, as moles, bees, crickets, beetles, crabs, etc. only appear to ruminate

The only animals endowed with the genuine faculty of rumination, are the Ruminantia, or cloven-hoofed quadrupeds, but the hare, although its stomach is differently organized, is an occasional and partial ruminant.

2. To muse; to meditate; to think again and again; to ponder. It is natural to ruminate on misfortunes.

He practices a slow meditation, and ruminates on the subject.

RU'MINATE, verb transitive

1. To chew over again.

2. To muse on; to meditate over and over again.

Mad with desire, she ruminates her sin.