- the regular throbbing of the arteries, caused by the successive contractions of the heart, especially as may be felt at an artery, as at the wrist.
- a single pulsation, or beat or throb, of the arteries or heart.
- the rhythmic recurrence of strokes, vibrations, or undulations.
- a single stroke, vibration, or undulation.
- Electricity. a momentary, sudden fluctuation in an electrical quantity, as in voltage or current.
- Physics. a single, abrupt emission of particles or radiation.
- a throb of life, emotion, etc.
- the general attitude, sentiment, preference, etc., as of the public.
- to beat or throb; pulsate.
- to beat, vibrate, or undulate.
- Physics. to emit particles or radiation periodically in short bursts.
- to cause to pulse.
- Medicine/Medical. to administer (medication) in interrupted, often concentrated dosages to avoid unwanted side effects.
Origin of pulse1
- the edible seeds of certain leguminous plants, as peas, beans, or lentils.
- a plant producing such seeds.
Origin of pulse2
Examples from the Web for pulse
Add the water mixture all at once and pulse until the mixture just comes together.Make ‘The Chew’s’ Carla Hall’s Pumpkin Pecan Pie
December 26, 2014
“There was still no pulse, not even the smallest bit,” Johnson says.
The cop lay open-eyed with a grievous head wound as Johnson again checked for a pulse.
The pulse of the music gives the film a thrilling kind of unity.The Stacks: Pauline Kael's Talking Heads Obsession
November 22, 2014
However, in calm, deep wave sleep, breathing and pulse is slow and regular, and movements are more than rare, he says.The Tracker That Might Actually Help You Sleep Better
October 17, 2014
Dico that the pulse of this gentleman is the pulse of a man who is not well.
This pulse is trifling with me; I see that it does not know me yet.
Never had the pulse beat stronger in my veins then at that moment.
I laughed out of sheer inanity; every pulse in my body was throbbing.
The Little Doctor was counting his pulse, and waited till she had finished.Chip, of the Flying U
B. M. Bower
- the rhythmic contraction and expansion of an artery at each beat of the heart, often discernible to the touch at points such as the wrists
- a single pulsation of the heart or arteries
- physics electronics
- a transient sharp change in voltage, current, or some other quantity normally constant in a system
- one of a series of such transient disturbances, usually recurring at regular intervals and having a characteristic geometric shape
- (as modifier)a pulse generator Less common name: impulse
- a recurrent rhythmic series of beats, waves, vibrations, etc
- any single beat, wave, etc, in such a series
- bustle, vitality, or excitementthe pulse of a city
- the feelings or thoughts of a group or society as they can be measuredthe pulse of the voters
- keep one's finger on the pulse to be well-informed about current events
- (intr) to beat, throb, or vibrate
- (tr) to provide an electronic pulse to operate (a slide projector)
- the edible seeds of any of several leguminous plants, such as peas, beans, and lentils
- the plant producing any of these seeds
Word Origin and History for pulse
"a throb, a beat," early 14c., from Old French pous, pulse (late 12c., Modern French pouls) and directly from Latin pulsus (in pulsus venarum "beating from the blood in the veins"), past participle of pellere "to push, drive," from PIE *pel- (6) "to thrust, strike, drive" (cf. Greek pallein "to wield, brandish, swing," pelemizein "to shake, cause to tremble"). Extended usages from 16c. Figurative use for "life, vitality, essential energy" is from 1530s.
"to beat, throb," early 15c., from pulse (n.1) or else from Latin pulsare "to beat, throb," and in part from French. Related: Pulsed; pulsing.
- The rhythmical dilation of arteries produced when blood is pumped outward by regular contractions of the heart, especially as palpated at the wrist or in the neck.
- The rhythmic expansion and contraction of the arteries as blood is pumped through them by the heart. The pulse can be felt at several parts of the body, as over the carotid and radial arteries.
- A dose of a medication or other substance given over a short period of time, usually repetitively.
- A brief sudden change in a normally constant quantity, such as an electric current or field.
- Any of a series of intermittent occurrences characterized by a brief sudden change in a quantity.
Idioms and Phrases with pulse
see take the pulse of.