heartbeat
Americannoun
-
heartbeats
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of heartbeat
Explanation
That regular thumping in your chest is your heartbeat, the relaxation and contraction of your heart's chambers that sends blood flowing through your body. You may notice your heartbeat after you've been exercising vigorously, or when something really scares you. It's the rhythmic pulse that can be heard through a stethoscope as your heart works to pump your blood. Figuratively, a heartbeat is also a brief, quick moment, as in "It was over in a heartbeat," or something vitally important, as in "She was the heartbeat of our Girl Scout troop." Heartbeat comes from the "repeated strike of a drum" sense of beat.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The 34-year-old described how, when a nurse broke the news that there was no heartbeat during a scan at six months, their "whole world stopped".
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Gym rats can check their body composition of fat and muscle, people with heart issues can get their heartbeat captured, and mole owners can get their moles mapped to 0.1 mm.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
For blood pressure, experimental alarms use the familiar “lub-dub” of a heartbeat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
The “All Night Long” singer-songwriter was hospitalized to receive treatment for an irregular heartbeat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Eventually, the physicians gave up their tinkering and simply monitored Lincoln’s heartbeat, temperature, and breathing.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
These include when the electrical impulses that regulate heartbeats don't function properly, or when the walls of the heart become inflamed or damaged.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
Put tiny versions into cardiac patients to regulate heartbeats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
Forget the old idea that physical activity drains your supply of heartbeats.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2025
If left unchecked, dehydration can cause more serious complications, such as fainting and irregular heartbeats.
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2025
Within a few heartbeats, the gates groaned shut behind them.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
