Adjacent Words

Ponder definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PON'DER, v.t. [L. pondero, from pondo, pondus, a pound; pendeo,pendo, to weigh.]
1. To weigh in the mind; to consider and compare the circumstances or consequences of an event, or the importance of the reasons for or against a decision.
Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2.
2. To view with deliberation; to examine.
Ponder the path of thy feet. Proverbs 4.
The Lord pondereth the hearts. Proverbs 21.
To ponder on, is sometimes used, but is not be to countenanced.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: reflect deeply on a subject; "I mulled over the events of the afternoon"; "philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years"; "The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate" [syn: chew over, think over, meditate, ponder, excogitate, contemplate, muse, reflect, mull, mull over, ruminate, speculate]

Merriam Webster's

verb (pondered; pondering) Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French ponderer, from Latin ponderare to weigh, ponder, from ponder-, pondus weight — more at pendant Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to weigh in the mind ; appraise <pondered their chances of success> 2. to think about ; reflect on <pondered the events of the day> intransitive verb to think or consider especially quietly, soberly, and deeply • ponderer noun Synonyms: ponder, meditate, muse, ruminate mean to consider or examine attentively or deliberately. ponder implies a careful weighing of a problem or, often, prolonged inconclusive thinking about a matter <pondered the course of action>. meditate implies a definite focusing of one's thoughts on something so as to understand it deeply <meditated on the meaning of life>. muse suggests a more or less focused daydreaming as in remembrance <mused upon childhood joys>. ruminate implies going over the same matter in one's thoughts again and again but suggests little of either purposive thinking or rapt absorption <ruminated on past disappointments>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. weigh mentally; think over; consider. 2 intr. (usu. foll. by on, over) think; muse. Etymology: ME f. OF ponderer f. L ponderare f. pondus -eris weight

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ponder Pon"der, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pondered; p. pr. & vb. n. Pondering.] [L. ponderare, fr. pondus, ponderis, a weight, fr. pendere to weigh: cf. F. pond['e]rer. See Pendant, and cf. Pound a weight.] 1. To weigh. [Obs.] 2. To weigh in the mind; to view with deliberation; to examine carefully; to consider attentively. Ponder the path of thy feet. --Prov. iv. 26. Syn: To Ponder, Consider, Muse. Usage: To consider means to view or contemplate with fixed thought. To ponder is to dwell upon with long and anxious attention, with a view to some practical result or decision. To muse is simply to think upon continuously with no definite object, or for the pleasure it gives. We consider any subject which is fairly brought before us; we ponder a concern involving great interests; we muse on the events of childhood.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ponder Pon"der, v. i. To think; to deliberate; to muse; -- usually followed by on or over. --Longfellow.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(ponders, pondering, pondered) If you ponder something, you think about it carefully. I found myself constantly pondering the question: 'How could anyone do these things?'... The Prime Minister pondered on when to go to the polls... I'm continually pondering how to improve the team. VERB: V n, V on/over n, V wh

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pon'-der: Occurs in the King James Version 5 times in the Book of Proverbs and nowhere else in the Old Testament. In each case it means "to consider carefully," "to weigh mentally." In Pr 4:26 and 5:21, the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "make level." In Pr 5:6, it drops out entirely in the Revised Version (British and American). In Pr 21:2 and 24:12, "weigh" is substituted for "ponder." The one New Testament passage is Lu 2:19; here the Revised Version (British and American) has "pondering" where the King James Version has "and pondered."

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Consider, weigh, contemplate, study, meditate, think on, reflect upon, deliberate upon, revolve in the mind, examine. II. v. n. Think, muse, reflect, cogitate, meditate, study, deliberate.

Moby Thesaurus

appraise, back down, balance, be abstracted, brood, brood over, chaw, chew over, chew the cud, cogitate, con over, consider, contemplate, debate, deliberate, deliberate over, deliberate upon, demur, digest, dwell, evaluate, excogitate, falter, fear, hang back, hem and haw, hesitate, hover, hum and haw, introspect, jib, meditate, meditate upon, mind, mull over, muse, muse on, muse over, pause, perpend, play around with, play with, ponder over, pull back, reason, reflect, reflect over, retreat, revolve, roll, ruminate, ruminate over, run over, scruple, shilly-shally, shy, speculate, stick at, stickle, stop to consider, straddle the fence, strain at, study, think, think over, think twice about, toy with, turn over, weigh, withdraw, yield