deliberate
v.v. to think or talk about something very carefully before you make a final choice. You usually do this when a decision is important or difficult.
v. to engage in long and careful consideration before reaching a conclusion or making a decision. Often used in legal or formal contexts to describe the process of a jury or committee.
The jury will deliberate for several hours before giving a verdict.
The committee members need time to deliberate on the new policy before they hold a final vote.
After the closing arguments concluded, the judges retired to their chambers to deliberate on the complex constitutional implications of the case, a process that lasted several days.
Inherited from Middle English deliberat(e), borrowed from Latin dēlīberātus, perfect passive participle of dēlīberō (“to consider, weigh well”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- + līberō / lībrō (“to weigh”)), from libera / libra (“a balance”); see librate. Doublet of deliber.
The verb is intransitive when describing the act of thinking, but can take the preposition 'on' or 'over' when specifying the topic.