mull over
verb phrase

- to think carefully about something for a period of time

Cambridge Dictionary

Mull is also a verb that refers to heating and spicing wine or ale. This tradition apparently stemmed from the medieval practice of improving the taste of bad or spoiled wine by adding spices and heating it up.

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ORIGIN

Mull stems from the Middle English “mollen, mullen”, meaning to moisten, crumble. How this evolved to the present-day definition of “to think about” is unclear.

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AFTER CAREFUL MULLING

At a dinner party one evening, Joseph Choate was asked whom he would most like to be if he were not himself. “If I could not be myself”, he began, mulling a mental list of luminaries before gazing at his lovely wife, “I would like to be Mrs. Choate’s second husband”.

Joseph Hodges Choate, American lawyer and diplomat

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SYNONYMS

bat about, brood over, chaw, consider, contemplate, debate with oneself, deliberate (over), dwell upon, examine, excogitate, figure out, give thought to, hammer away at, kick about, linger on, meditate on, moon over, MULL OVER, muse on, ponder, pore over,  rack one’s brains, reflect, review, revolve in one’s mind, ruminate, stew over, sweat over, think over, turn over, weigh

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, discuss something like:

“A new car is a big investment so be sure to MULL IT OVER before signing the purchase agreement.”

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THANKS to Joey for suggesting today’s word!

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

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and,

Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40