Ru"mi*nant (?), a. [L. ruminans, -antis, p. pr.: cf. F. ruminant. See
Ruminate.] (Zoöl.) Chewing the cud; characterized by chewing again what
has been swallowed; of or pertaining to the Ruminantia.
Ru"mi*nant, n. (Zoöl.) A ruminant animal; one of the Ruminantia.
||Ru`mi*nan"ti*a (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoöl.) A division of Artiodactyla
||having four stomachs. This division includes the camels, deer,
||antelopes, goats, sheep, neat cattle, and allies.
The vegetable food, after the first mastication, enters the first
stomach (r). It afterwards passes into the second (n), where it is
moistened, and formed into pellets which the animal has the power of
bringing back to the mouth to be chewed again, after which it is
swallowed into the third stomach (m), whence it passes to the fourth
(s), where it is finally digested.
Ru"mi*nant*ly (?), adv. In a ruminant manner; by ruminating, or chewing
the cud.
Ru"mi*nate (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ruminated (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Ruminating.] [L. ruminatus, p. p. of ruminari, ruminare, fr. rumen,
-inis, throat, akin to ructare to belch, erugere to belch out, Gr. &?;,
AS. roccettan.] 1. To chew the cud; to chew again what has been
slightly chewed and swallowed. "Cattle free to ruminate." Wordsworth.
2. Fig.: To think again and again; to muse; to meditate; to ponder; to
reflect. Cowper.
Apart from the hope of the gospel, who is there that ruminates on
the felicity of heaven?