rumination
Americannoun
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the act of pondering or musing on something.
Understanding little of what was happening, I was semiconsciously storing away experiences, impressions, and ideas for later rumination.
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something written or spoken that expresses such pondering or musing.
Her blog posts contain notes of spirituality, ruminations on the meaning of experience, and glimpses of her multifaceted life.
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Psychology. excessive, repetitive thinking focused on the same, usually negative, idea or theme: characteristic of some obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders.
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the act or process of chewing the cud, as cows, deer, and some other animals do.
Rumination helps cows efficiently turn grass, corn, and other feed into nutrient-dense milk.
Usage
What does rumination mean? Rumination is the process of carefully thinking something over, pondering it, or meditating on it.In psychology, the term refers to obsessive repetition of thoughts or excessively thinking about problems. Rumination can also refer to the process of chewing over and over again, as is done by ruminant animals, like cows.Rumination is the noun form of the verb ruminate, which can mean to think over or ponder, or to chew over and over.Example: After much rumination and soul-searching, I have decided to pursue a new career.
Other Word Forms
- nonrumination noun
Etymology
Origin of rumination
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin stem of rūminātiō “a chewing of the cud,” equivalent to rūmināt(us) “chewed over again” (stem of rūmināre; ruminate ( def. ) ) + -iō -ion ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet the theme of human sacrifice persisted as a subject for deep rumination even after advances in science, industry and wealth insulated the West’s creative classes from ancient and medieval rites.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 25, 2026
So nature is boosting them up, and we think that is giving them the cognitive resources to then deal with their depression and their rumination.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2025
And nights waking drenched in sweat, waking to obsessive rumination, bad dreams leaking into the dawn.
From BBC • Jan. 25, 2025
But rumination and vigilance take energy, and this increased energy expenditure has a biological cost.
From Salon • Aug. 7, 2024
“Has there been an uptick in your rumination or intrusive thoughts?”
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
