heartbeat

Plural: heartbeats

Noun

• the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart
• a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat)
• an animating or vital unifying force
  • "New York is the commercial heartbeat of America"
• One pulsation of the heart; especially an irregular one, hence the emotion which causes it.
• The rhythm at which a heart pulsates, a cardiac indicator.
• A driving impulse or vital force; the vital center of something.
• A very short space of time; an instant.
• A periodic signal generated by hardware or software to indicate normal operation or to synchronize other parts of a system.

Examples

• He alone gives me such heartbeats.
• If your heartbeat doesn't normalize soon, consult a doctor!
• Music is the heartbeat of the people.
• The ambulance arrived in a heartbeat.
• The policeman waited for a heartbeat in vain.

Synonyms

beat, blink of an eye, flash, instant, jiffy, New York minute, pulsation, pulse, split second, trice, twinkling, wink