Ponder

//ˈpɒn.də(ɹ)// name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A period of deep thought. colloquial

    "I lit my pipe and had a ponder about it, but reached no definite conclusion."

Verb
  1. 1
    To wonder, think of deeply.
  2. 2
    reflect deeply on a subject wordnet
  3. 3
    To consider (something) carefully and thoroughly.

    "I have spent days pondering the meaning of life."

  4. 4
    To weigh. obsolete
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A ghost town in Ripley County, Missouri, United States. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    A town in Denton County, Texas, United States. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
chew overmull overchew overcontemplatemeditatemull

Example

More examples

"A gaggle of intoxicated youths stopped to ponder whether there is an Opposite Day in Bizarro World."

Etymology

From Middle English ponderen, from Old French ponderer (“to weigh, balance, ponder”) from Latin ponderāre (“to weigh, ponder”), from pondus (“weight”), from pendere (“to weigh”); see pendent and pound.

Related phrases

Ponders Endchew overmull overthink of

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.