ruminant

²ruminant

adj

Definition of RUMINANT

1

a (1) : chewing the cud (2) : characterized by chewing again what has been swallowed b : of or relating to two suborders (Ruminantia and Tylopoda) of herbivorous even-toed hoofed mammals (as sheep, oxen, deer, and camels) that chew the cud and have a complex 3- or 4-chambered stomach

2

: given to or engaged in contemplation : meditative <stood there … in this attitude of ruminant relish — Thomas Wolfe>

— ru·mi·nant·ly adverb

Examples of RUMINANT

1. <I wandered around campus all day in a ruminant mood.>

First Known Use of RUMINANT

1691

Related to RUMINANT

Synonyms: broody, cogitative, meditative, melancholy, musing, pensive, reflective, contemplative, ruminative, thoughtful

Antonyms: unreflective

Related Words: introspective, retrospective, self-reflective; earnest, grave, sedate, serious, serious-minded, severe, sober, solemn, somber (or sombre), weighty; philosophical (also philosophic); analytic (or analytical), logical, rational; deliberate, purposeful; absentminded, abstracted, preoccupied

Near Antonyms: featherbrained, flighty, flippant, frivolous, goofy, harebrained, light-headed, scatterbrained; brainless, mindless, silly, thoughtless, unthinking

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Other Mammals Terms

dormouse, dugong, gibbon, grimalkin, sable, stoat, ungulate, vole