Definition of "rumen" [‖Ru•men]

• The first division of the stomach of a ruminant animal, in which most food collects immediately after being swallowed and from which it is later returned to the mouth as cud for thorough chewing. Also called paunch. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Unlike converting methane from cow shit into electricity, a method that requires expensive gear, this method generates electricity as the microorganisms in rumen fluid break down the complex carbohydrates in roughage."
• "      The rumen is the stomach that has always intrigued me most, even more for its inhabitants than for its internal landscape."
• "The rumen is the stomach that has always intrigued me most, even more for its inhabitants than for its internal landscape."