ruminating
Turning thoughts over
Ruminating means chewing over—literally or figuratively.
Cows and other ruminants ruminate by rechewing partially digested food brought back up from the stomach.
In human contexts, ruminating means turning something over repeatedly in the mind: She spent the evening ruminating on what went wrong.
The word often carries a negative connotation of unproductive dwelling on problems.
Thinking deeply about something
- musingReflective contemplation
- cogitatingThinking deeply about something
- deliberatingCarefully thinking before deciding
- reflectingBouncing back light
thinking · meditating · philosophizing · theorizing · speculating · analyzing · reasoning · brooding
Anxiously dwelling on something
- dwellingPlace of residence
- fixatingFocusing to excess
- obsessingThinking about compulsively
- overthinkingDwelling excessively on thoughts
worrying · agonizing · replaying · haunted · preoccupied · consumed · troubled · anxious
Rechewed stomach contents
- chewingCrushing food orally
- cattleDomesticated bovines kept commercially
- cowFemale bovine
- grazingFeeding on pasture
herd · pasture · rumen · regurgitation · foregut · fermentation · reticulum · abomasum
Examining one's own mind
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
- self-examinationScrutiny of one's thoughts
- soul-searchingProbing one's innermost feelings
- self-analysisScrutinizing one's own psyche
self-scrutiny · self-questioning · self-awareness · self-discovery · navel-gazing · self-observation · mindfulness · soliloquy
pondering
Thinking deeply about something
- musingReflective contemplation
- cogitatingThinking deeply about something
- deliberatingCarefully thinking before deciding
reflecting · thinking · meditating · philosophizing · theorizing · speculating · analyzing · reasoning · brooding · dwelling
brooding
Anxiously dwelling on something
overthinking · worrying · agonizing · replaying · haunted · preoccupied · consumed · troubled · anxious · cycling
cud
Rechewed stomach contents
grazing · herd · pasture · rumen · regurgitation · foregut · fermentation · reticulum · abomasum · herbivore
self-reflection
Examining one's own mind
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
- self-examinationScrutiny of one's thoughts
- soul-searchingProbing one's innermost feelings
self-analysis · self-scrutiny · self-questioning · self-awareness · self-discovery · navel-gazing · self-observation · mindfulness · soliloquy · reverie
- thinkingthinking, reasoning, thought, ponder, contemplate
- Anxietyanxiety, nervousness, panic, worry, generalized anxiety
- mental healthpsychiatry, psychotherapy, mental illness, psychiatrist, therapist
- chewingmastication, chewing, gnawing, grinding, biting
- contemplativecontemplative, introspective, reflective, pensive, meditative
- anxiety signspanic, nervousness, worry, worrying, trembling
ruminatingletting go
Releasing one's grasp
not thinking · living in the moment · zoning out · spacing out · releasing