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cud

[kuhd]
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noun
  1. the portion of food that a ruminant returns from the first stomach to the mouth to chew a second time.
  2. Dialect. quid1.
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Idioms
  1. chew one's/the cud, Informal. to meditate or ponder; ruminate.
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Origin of cud

before 1000; Middle English; Old English cudu, variant of cwiodu, cwidu; akin to Old High German quiti glue, Sanskrit jatu resin, gum. See quid1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

foodchewrumenbolusquid

Examples from the Web for cud

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Among these the sheep graze, the donkeys bray, and the cows chew the cud.

    Welsh Fairy Tales

    William Elliott Griffis

  • Naething ever onybody said cud gar me think different o' him!'

    Heather and Snow

    George MacDonald

  • More than ever now my father chewed the cud of his great disappointment.

  • Chew you the cud of that until the hangman's coming in the morning.

    The Tavern Knight

    Rafael Sabatini

  • He had chewed the cud of his own virtue for too long a time, and it had given him a sour stomach.

    Rope

    Holworthy Hall

British Dictionary definitions for cud

cud

noun
  1. partially digested food regurgitated from the first stomach of cattle and other ruminants to the mouth for a second chewing
  2. chew the cud to reflect or think over something
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Word Origin

Old English cudu, from cwidu what has been chewed; related to Old Norse kvātha resin (for chewing), Old High German quiti glue, Sanskrit jatu rubber
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cud

n.

Old English cudu "cud," earlier cwudu, common Germanic (cf. Old Norse kvaða "resin," Old High German quiti "glue," German Kitt "putty"); perhaps from PIE root *gwet- "resin, gum."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cud in Science

cud

[kŭd]
  1. Food that has been partly digested and brought up from the first stomach to the mouth again for further chewing by ruminants, such as cattle and sheep.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.