ruminant
any even-toed, hoofed mammal of the suborder Ruminantia, consisting of the cloven-hoofed, cud-chewing quadrupeds, including cattle, sheep, goats, bison, buffalo, deer, antelopes, giraffes, and chevrotains.
being or relating to animals that ruminate or chew the cud, typically those of the suborder Ruminantia: Methane emissions from ruminant animals represent a quarter of all methane emissions in the region.
contemplative; meditative: In a corner of the library, a ruminant scholar sat poring over a thick book.
Origin of ruminant
1Other words from ruminant
- ru·mi·nant·ly, adverb
- non·ru·mi·nant, noun, adjective
- un·ru·mi·nant, adjective
Words Nearby ruminant
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ruminant in a sentence
Gilbert has also noted that outbreaks of the extremely contagious peste des petits ruminants virus have also been recently confirmed in mountainous areas of Nepal.
Nonlethal parasite infections are pervasive in ruminants — plant eaters that play key roles in shaping vegetation on land.
Caribou gut parasites indirectly create a greener tundra | Jake Buehler | May 20, 2022 | Science NewsCows and other ruminants release methane as a byproduct of their digestive process.
'Cows Are the New Coal.' How the Cattle Industry Is Ignoring the Bottom Line When It Comes to Methane Emissions | Aryn Baker | December 2, 2021 | TimeThat’s why cows and other ruminants, like goats and sheep, have multiple compartments in their stomachs to help them digest their food.
Surf and Turf: How Seaweed Helps Cows Become Better Climate Citizens | Aryn Baker | November 17, 2021 | TimeMany studies have examined the chemicals’ impact on methane in adult ruminants.
Analyze This: Cows burp less methane after early-life treatment | Carolyn Wilke | April 6, 2021 | Science News For Students
Away goes your fine brain, the house of thought and instinct, to swell the cud of a ruminant animal!
Cape Cod | Henry D. ThoreauHe was eating in his slow ruminant way—he ate enormously but never hungrily.
The Kentucky Warbler | James Lane AllenPaunch, pawnsh, or pnsh, n. the belly: the first and largest stomach of a ruminant.
Monona, who had previously hidden a cooky in her frock, now remembered it and crunched sidewise, the eyes ruminant.
Miss Lulu Bett | Zona GaleOn the other hand, his intelligence is a grade or two above that of perhaps any ruminant or other herbivorous quadruped.
Animal Intelligence | George J. Romanes
British Dictionary definitions for ruminant
/ (ˈruːmɪnənt) /
any artiodactyl mammal of the suborder Ruminantia, the members of which chew the cud and have a stomach of four compartments, one of which is the rumen. The group includes deer, antelopes, cattle, sheep, and goats
any other animal that chews the cud, such as a camel
of, relating to, or belonging to the suborder Ruminantia
(of members of this suborder and related animals, such as camels) chewing the cud; ruminating
meditating or contemplating in a slow quiet way
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for ruminant
[ rōō′mə-nənt ]
Any of various even-toed hoofed mammals of the suborder Ruminantia. Ruminants usually have a stomach divided into four compartments (called the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum), and chew a cud consisting of regurgitated, partially digested food. Ruminants include cattle, sheep, goats, deer, giraffes, antelopes, and camels.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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