pulse

Plural: pulses

Noun

• (electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)
• the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart
• the rate at which the heart beats; usually measured to obtain a quick evaluation of a person's health
• edible seeds of various pod-bearing plants (peas or beans or lentils etc.)
• 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 nature or rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health.
• 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.
• 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 timed, coordinated connection, when multiple public transportation vehicles are at a hub at the same time so that passengers can flexibly connect between them.
• Annual leguminous plants (such as beans, lentils, and peas) yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; (countable) such a plant; a legume.
• Edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants, especially in a mature, dry condition; (countable) a specific kind of such a grain or seed.

Verb

Verb Forms: pulsed, pulsing, pulses

• To throb or beat with a regular rhythm; to pulsate.
• expand and contract rhythmically; beat rhythmically
• produce or modulate (as electromagnetic waves) in the form of short bursts or pulses or cause an apparatus to produce pulses
  • "pulse waves"
  • "a transmitter pulsed by an electronic tube"
• drive by or as if by pulsation
  • "A soft breeze pulsed the air"
• 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 expand and contract repeatedly, like an artery when blood is flowing though it, or the heart; to beat, to throb, to vibrate, to pulsate.
• Of an activity, place, or thing: to bustle with energy and liveliness; to pulsate.

Examples

• Her pulse was thready and weak.
• Hot blood pulsed through my veins as I grew angrier.
• The energy in the Words With Friends tournament could practically pulse through the screen.
• The streets were dark, and all that could be seen was light pulsing from the disco.
• You can really feel the pulse of the city in this district.

Synonyms

beat, heart rate, heartbeat, impulse, pulsate, pulsation, pulse rate, pulsing, throb, autosoliton, undulate

Related Words

arrhythmia, blood pressure, heartbeat, impulse, meter, pulsate, pulsating, pulsation, pulsative, pulsator, pulsatory, pulser, pulsion, pulsive, repulse, tempo

Anagrams of pulse