ruminantlyadv.
/ˈruːmᵻnəntli/, U.S. /ˈrumənəntli/ By or while chewing. Usually figurative: meditatively; = ruminatingly adv. at ruminating adj. Derivatives.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > [adverb]
thoughtfully1479
pensively1569
reflexively1631
reflectingly1643
ponderingly1647
studiedly1658
cogitantly1660
reflectively1763
ruminatingly1823
ruminatively1837
ruminantly1847
consideringly1870
1847 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Ruminantly, by chewing.
1871 Radical Oct. 223 I sat in the old east bedroom puffing my matutinal pipe, and ruminantly following the motions of an almost Titanic blue-bottle.
1888 Amer. Mag. Mar. 558/2 Even the cows chew their cuds more ruminantly than other cattle do.
1907 S. E. White Arizona Nights (U.K. ed.) ii. iv. 231 The cattle, too, made their pilgrimage..leisurely, ruminantly, without haste.
1921 F. O'Brien Mystic Isles S. Seas xiii. 266 He gazed ruminantly away from the lagoon to the pool of Psyche, where the Tahitian women squatted on their shapely haunches.
1957 D. Lessing Habit of Loving 223 The boy put a large forkful of meat into his mouth and ate it ruminantly, watching his sister.
2002 Daily Tel. 25 Oct. 26/8 I plucked a blade of grass from the churchyard, chewed ruminantly for a few moments.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1847