Hypertext Webster Gateway: "muse"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Muse \Muse\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Mused}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Musing}.] [F. muser to loiter or trifle, orig., to stand
with open mouth, fr. LL. musus, morsus, muzzle, snout, fr. L.
morsus a biting, bite, fr. mordere to bite. See {Morsel}, and
cf. Amuse, Muzzle, n.]
1. To think closely; to study in silence; to meditate.
``Thereon mused he.'' --Chaucer.
He mused upon some dangerous plot. --Sir P.
Sidney.
2. To be absent in mind; to be so occupied in study or
contemplation as not to observe passing scenes or things
present; to be in a brown study. --Daniel.
3. To wonder. [Obs.] --Spenser. B. Jonson.
Syn: To consider; meditate; ruminate. See {Ponder}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Muse \Muse\, v. t.
1. To think on; to meditate on.
Come, then, expressive Silence, muse his praise.
--Thomson.
2. To wonder at. [Obs.] --Shak.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Muse \Muse\, n. [From F. musse. See {Muset}.]
A gap or hole in a hedge, hence, wall, or the like, through
which a wild animal is accustomed to pass; a muset.
Find a hare without a muse. --Old Prov.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Muse \Muse\, n. [F. Muse, L. Musa, Gr. ?. Cf. {Mosaic}, n.,
{Music}.]
1. (Class. Myth.) One of the nine goddesses who presided over
song and the different kinds of poetry, and also the arts
and sciences; -- often used in the plural.
Granville commands; your aid, O Muses, bring: What
Muse for Granville can refuse to sing? --Pope.
Note: The names of the Muses were Calliope, Clio, Erato,
Euterpe, Melpomene, Polymnia or Polyhymnia,
Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania.
2. A particular power and practice of poetry. --Shak.
3. A poet; a bard. [R.] --Milton.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Muse \Muse\, n.
1. Contemplation which abstracts the mind from passing
scenes; absorbing thought; hence, absence of mind; a brown
study. --Milton.
2. Wonder, or admiration. [Obs.] --Spenser.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
Muse
n 1: in ancient Greek mythology any of 9 daughters of Zeus and
Mnemosyne; protector of an art or science [syn: {Muse}]
2: the source of an artist's inspiration; "Euterpe was his
muse"
v : 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}, {excogotate},
{contemplate}, {reflect}, {mull}, {mull over}, {ruminate},
{speculate}]
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