pulse Meaning & Definition
What Does Pulse Mean?
Pulse is a noun that means A normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin (for example, at the neck or wrist) are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them; the qualitative nature of this beat. It is also used to mean The rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health. As a verb, it means To emit or impel (something) in pulses or waves. As a verb, it means To beat, to throb, to flash.
Pulse: Key Facts
| Part of speech | noun, verb |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | //pʌls// |
| Syllables | 1 |
| Synonyms | impulse, beat and throb |
| Plural | pulses |
| Verb forms | pulses, pulsing, pulsed |
Pulse Definition (Noun)
- A normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin (for example, at the neck or wrist) are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them; the qualitative nature of this beat.
Her pulse was thready and weak.
- The rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health.
Her pulse was 110 at 8 a.m.
- A beat or throb; also, a repeated sequence of such beats or throbs.
- The focus of energy or vigour of an activity, place, or thing; also, the feeling of bustle, busyness, or energy in a place; the heartbeat.
You can really feel the pulse of the city in this district.
- An (increased) amount of a substance (such as a drug or an isotopic label) given over a short time.
- A setting on a food processor which causes it to work in a series of short bursts rather than continuously, in order to break up ingredients without liquidizing them; also, a use of this setting.
- The beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse; also, a repeated sequence of such beats.
- A brief burst of electromagnetic energy, such as light, radio waves, etc. Synonym of autosoliton (“a stable solitary localized structure that arises in nonlinear spatially extended dissipative systems due to mechanisms of self-organization”). A brief increase in the strength of an electrical signal; an impulse.
- A brief burst of electromagnetic energy, such as light, radio waves, etc.
- Synonym of autosoliton (“a stable solitary localized structure that arises in nonlinear spatially extended dissipative systems due to mechanisms of self-organization”).
- A brief increase in the strength of an electrical signal; an impulse.
- A timed, coordinated connection, when multiple public transportation vehicles are at a hub at the same time so that passengers can flexibly connect between them.
Pulse as a Verb
- To emit or impel (something) in pulses or waves.
- To give to (something, especially a cell culture) an (increased) amount of a substance, such as a drug or an isotopic label, over a short time.
- To operate a food processor on (some ingredient) in short bursts, to break it up without liquidizing it.
- To apply an electric current or signal that varies in strength to (something). To manipulate (an electric current, electromagnetic wave, etc.) so that it is emitted in pulses.
- To apply an electric current or signal that varies in strength to (something).
- To manipulate (an electric current, electromagnetic wave, etc.) so that it is emitted in pulses.
- To expand and contract repeatedly, like an artery when blood is flowing though it, or the heart; to beat, to throb, to vibrate, to pulsate.
Hot blood pulsed through my veins as I grew angrier.
- Of an activity, place, or thing: to bustle with energy and liveliness; to pulsate.
Noun
- Annual leguminous plants (such as beans, lentils, and peas) yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant; a legume.
- Edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants, especially in a mature, dry condition; a specific kind of such a grain or seed.
Noun
- A normally regular beat felt when arteries are depressed, caused by the pumping action of the heart.
- A beat or throb.
- The beat or tactus of a piece of music.
- An autosoliton
Verb
- To beat, to throb, to flash.
In the dead of night, all was still but the pulsing light.
- To flow, particularly of blood.
Hot blood pulses through my veins.
- To emit in discrete quantities.
- To operate a blender in short bursts, to break down ingredients without liquidizing them.
Noun
- Any annual legume yielding from 1 to 12 grains or seeds within a pod, and used as food for humans or animals, especially in the mature, dry condition.
Synonyms of Pulse
Pulse synonyms and antonyms →Antonyms of Pulse
No antonyms or near antonyms are listed by the available sources for this entry.
Pulse in a Sentence
Her pulse was thready and weak.
Her pulse was 110 at 8 a.m.
You can really feel the pulse of the city in this district.
Hot blood pulsed through my veins as I grew angrier.
The streets were dark, and all that could be seen was light pulsing from the disco.
In the dead of night, all was still but the pulsing light.
Hot blood pulses through my veins.
Word Forms & Grammar
pulse (plural pulses)
pulse (third-person singular simple present pulses, present participle pulsing, simple past and past participle pulsed)
pulse (countable and uncountable, plural pulses)
Words That Rhyme With Pulse
Origin of Pulse
Origin 1: From Late Middle English pulse, pous, pouse (“regular beat of arteries, pulse; heartbeat; place on the body where a pulse is detectable; beat (of a musical instrument); energy, vitality”) [and other forms],[1] from Anglo-Norman puls, pous, pus, and Middle French pouls, poulz, pous [and other forms], Old French pous, pulz (“regular beat of arteries; place on the body where a pulse is detectable”) (modern French pouls), and from their etymon Latin pulsus (“beat, impulse, pulse, stroke; regular beat of arteries or the heart”), from pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to banish, eject, expel; to set in motion; to strike”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat, strike; to drive; to push, thrust”)) + -sus (a variant of -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs)).[2]
Origin 2: From Late Middle English pulse, Middle English pulsen (“to pulse, throb”),[3] from Latin pulsāre, the present active infinitive of pulsō (“to push; to beat, batter, hammer, strike; to knock on; (figuratively) to drive or urge on, impel; to move; to agitate, disquiet, disturb”), the frequentative of pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to banish, eject, expel; to set in motion; to strike”);[4] see further at etymology 1. Doublet of push.
Origin 3: From Middle English puls (“(collectively) seeds of a leguminous plant used as food; leguminous plants collectively; a species of leguminous plant”), Early Middle English pols (in compounds),[5] possibly from Anglo-Norman pus, puz, Middle French pouls, pols, pous, and Old French pous, pou (“gruel, mash, porridge”) (perhaps in the sense of a gruel made from pulses), or directly from their etymon Latin puls (“meal (coarse-ground edible part of various grains); porridge”), probably from Ancient Greek πόλτος (póltos, “porridge made from flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“dust; flour”) (perhaps by extension from *pel- (“to beat, strike; to drive; to push, thrust”), in the sense of something beaten).[6]
How Do You Say Pulse?
Pulse is pronounced //pʌls// and has 1 syllable.
Questions People Ask About Pulse
Is pulse a noun or a verb?
Pulse is mainly used as a noun, but it can also be used as a verb.
What is another word for pulse?
Words with a similar meaning to pulse include impulse, beat and throb. See the full list of pulse synonyms and antonyms.
What is the plural of pulse?
The plural of pulse is pulses.
What is the past tense of pulse?
The past tense of pulse is pulsed. The present participle is pulsing.