1
ruminate on/over sth
on 和 over 都可引出思考的对象，后接名词或代词。
She sat quietly, ruminating on the meaning of his words.
她静静地坐着，反复思考他那些话的含义。
沉思；反复思考；仔细思考
ruminated — past of ruminate
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
沉思；反复思考；仔细思考
To think about something carefully and deeply; to meditate or ponder.
She sat quietly, ruminating on the meaning of his words.
她静静地坐着，反复思考他那些话的含义。
表示此义时常接 on、over 或 about。
To chew cud. (Said of ruminants.) Involves regurgitating partially digested food from the rumen.
To meditate or reflect.
To meditate or ponder over; to muse on.
ruminate
Base
原形
ruminates
3rd person
第三人称单数
ruminating
-ing
现在分词
ruminated
Past
过去式
ruminated
Past participle
过去分词
He ruminates on the problem.
他反复思考这个问题。
She is ruminating about her future.
她正在思考她的未来。
They ruminated over the decision.
他们仔细考虑了那个决定。
规则变化动词
After the argument, she sat alone and ruminated on what had been said.
争吵过后，她独自坐着沉思所说的话。
Cows ruminate by chewing their cud slowly and thoroughly.
奶牛通过缓慢而彻底地反刍食物来消化。
He spent the whole weekend ruminating about his career choices.
他整个周末都在反复思考自己的职业选择。
on 和 over 都可引出思考的对象，后接名词或代词。
She sat quietly, ruminating on the meaning of his words.
她静静地坐着，反复思考他那些话的含义。
该义为“反刍”，是不及物用法，主语通常是牛、羊等反刍动物；用于人且不带宾语时，也可表示“沉思”。
The cows were ruminating in the meadow.
牛群在草地上反刍。
Not this
She ruminated her past mistakes.
Use this
She ruminated on her past mistakes.
ruminate 是不及物动词，表示“沉思”时不能直接接宾语，须加介词 on/over/about 再接思考对象；因此用 on her past mistakes 而不是直接 her past mistakes。
Not this
He ruminated that he had made the wrong choice.
Use this
He ruminated on the fact that he had made the wrong choice.
ruminate 不能像 think 那样直接跟 that 从句作宾语；需要先接介词 on/over/about，再接 the fact that... 之类的名词短语。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
（牛等）反刍
Cattle ruminate in the fields in the late afternoon.
傍晚时分，牛群会在田野里反刍。
认真思考；沉思
He ruminated on the professor's question during the break.
休息期间，他认真思考教授的问题。
反复琢磨；深思
She kept ruminating over the criticism she received.
她反复琢磨着自己受到的批评。
Use ruminated naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
牛在反刍时反复咀嚼，人反复思考问题也借用ruminate，记住“反复嚼=反复想”。
语域：formal 常见场景：academic writing、literary prose、formal discussion ‘ruminate’ 表示“沉思、反复思考”时是正式用语，多用于书面语或较严肃的场合；日常口语中较少使用，更常说 think about 或 mull over。另在生物学语境中可指动物“反刍”，也属专业正式表达。
与 ruminate 真正押韵的词：illuminate（重读元音同为 /uː/，后接 /mɪneɪt/）。拼写相似的词中，fascinate 与 culminate 虽含 -inate/-minate，但重读元音分别是 /æ/、/ʌ/，发音不同；fortunate、passionate 虽以 -ate 结尾，却读 /ət/，也不押韵。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, OCTANOVE, WIKTIONARY, WORDNET.