ponder
verb /ˈpɒndə(r)/
/ˈpɑːndər/
[intransitive, transitive] (formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they ponder | /ˈpɒndə(r)/ /ˈpɑːndər/ |
| he / she / it ponders | /ˈpɒndəz/ /ˈpɑːndərz/ |
| past simple pondered | /ˈpɒndəd/ /ˈpɑːndərd/ |
| past participle pondered | /ˈpɒndəd/ /ˈpɑːndərd/ |
| -ing form pondering | /ˈpɒndərɪŋ/ /ˈpɑːndərɪŋ/ |
- to think about something carefully for a period of time synonym consider
- ponder over something She pondered over his words.
- ponder on something They were left to ponder on the implications of the announcement.
- ponder something The senator pondered the question for a moment.
- We intend to ponder all the alternatives before acting.
- ponder whether, what, etc… They are pondering whether the money could be better used elsewhere.
- + speech ‘I wonder why,’ she pondered aloud.
Extra Examples- She pondered for a moment before replying.
- This was something I had been pondering about for some time.
- I walked up the stairs, pondering on her reaction to my news.
- I pondered hard over the reply to his letter.
- Spencer stopped to ponder the thought.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- carefully
- deeply
- hard
- …
- leave somebody to
- be forced to
- pause to
- …
- about
- on
- over
- …
Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘appraise, judge the worth of’): from Old French ponderer ‘consider’, from Latin ponderare ‘weigh, reflect on’, from pondus, ponder- ‘weight’.