ruminant

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If one had as many stomachs as a ruminant, he would not mind three or four serious meals a day, not counting the tea as one of them.

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Definitions (11)

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  1. noun Any of various hoofed, even-toed, usually horned mammals of the suborder Ruminantia, such as cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and giraffes, characteristically having a stomach divided into four compartments and chewing a cud consisting of regurgitated, partially digested food.
  2. adjective Characterized by the chewing of cud.
  3. adjective Of or belonging to the Ruminantia.

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Examples (50)

  • When a ruminant grazes grass, the grass is cut from this height to this height. —  Michael Pollan gives a plant's-eye view
  • He trotted toward the dead ruminant, looking for the easiest point on the great corpse to begin his ascent. —  The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 2005
  • In spring 2008, Russia decided to open its doors to U.S. breeding cattle born on or after the implementation of the U.S. 1998 ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban.
  • Malick's films are something of an acquired taste; they're always languorous and ruminant, slow moving and thoughtful. —  Playback:stl Syndication
  • That sure does not conjure up the image of a cud-chewing ruminant, grazing peacefully on rolling acres of green - though the purveyors of dairy products would love for us to buy into just that imagery. —  Heartcrossings
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Latin rūmināns, rūminant-, present participle of rūmināre, to ruminate; see ruminate.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French ruminant = Spanish rumiante = Portuguese Italian ruminante, from Latin ruminan(t-)s, present participle of ruminare, chew the cud: see ruminate.
 

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/ˈrumɪnənt/
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