pulsate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
pulsates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pulsated,
past participle, past
-
pulsating
present participle
-
to expand and contract rhythmically, as the heart; beat; throb.
- Synonyms:
- pulse
-
to vibrate; quiver.
verb
-
to expand and contract with a rhythmic beat; throb
-
physics to vary in intensity, magnitude, size, etc
the current was pulsating
-
to quiver or vibrate
Synonym Usage
Pulsate, beat, palpitate, throb refer to the recurrent vibratory movement of the heart, the pulse, etc. To pulsate is to move in a definite rhythm, temporarily or for a longer duration: Blood pulsates in the arteries. To beat is to repeat a vibration or pulsation regularly for some time: One's heart beats many times a minute. To palpitate is to beat at a rapid rate, often producing a flutter: to palpitate with excitement. To throb is to beat with an unusual force that is often associated with pain or heightened emotion or sensation: to throb with terror.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pulsatesimple
-
pulsatessimple
-
have pulsatedperfect
-
has pulsatedperfect
-
am pulsatingprogressive
-
are pulsatingprogressive
-
is pulsatingprogressive
-
have been pulsatingperfect progressive
-
has been pulsatingperfect progressive
Past
-
pulsatedsimple
-
had pulsatedperfect
-
was pulsatingprogressive
-
were pulsatingprogressive
-
had been pulsatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pulsate
1785–95; < Latin pulsātus, past participle of pulsāre to batter, strike, make (strings) vibrate. See pulse 1, -ate 1
Explanation
Things that pulsate throb with a regular, rhythmic beat — like the piped-in music at a trendy discotheque. Music can pulsate, electromagnetic waves can pulsate, and your head can pulsate when you have a splitting headache. When someone takes your pulse by placing fingers on the inside of your wrist or on your neck, they're counting your heartbeats by feeling the blood pulsate through your arteries.
Vocabulary lists containing pulsate
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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:
When a lower-mass star reaches the point where nuclear reactions in its core can no longer support it, the star becomes unstable and begins to pulsate.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
They pulsate, drip, twist, ooze, squirm and sometimes even metamorphose, and when they were displayed alongside the menacing work of the “Alien” artist H.R.
From New York Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
The flute solo made the hall pulsate with a full life of its own.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2023
Solar flares come from sunspots, or bruiselike discolorations on the surface of the sun that pulsate with energy.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 12, 2023
Cepheid stars pulsate, getting brighter and dimmer in a very predictable way; the way they pulsate is closely related to how much light they put out.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Whatever your musical taste, “Musical Bodies” pulsates with spirit and soul alike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
But the contemporary allegory of patriarchal control over reproduction pulsates throughout, even as the film remains open to multiple readings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2024
It’s etched into the curves of the mountains, the rhythm of the ocean, the aroma of coffee and the beat of music that pulsates through the city.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
All of this happens and heightens during World Cups in the world’s eighth-most-populous country, even as its giant capital, Dhaka, pulsates 9,503 miles from Rio de Janeiro and 10,420 miles from Buenos Aires.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2022
The blue fretwork of veins in Hauptmann’s forehead pulsates.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
The arteries of the capital and other major cities pulsated with people.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026
During the climactic moment, a giant load-in door in the upstage wall slowly rose like a curtain onto West 45th Street, which pulsated with color and life.
From New York Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
Techno music pulsated through the building during stoppages, and the crowd littered the ice with caps after Cozens finished his hat trick at 11:52.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 26, 2023
Max’s “Finale: Late Conversations With Stephen Sondheim” pulsated with theatrical sensibility and insight into the art form.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2022
The earth was asleep, but it pulsated with power.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
“He was to be seen as a much bigger threat this time and made up of a twisted mass of large, pulsating vines,” Gower says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
The result, after four years of development, hit theaters last summer as an Apple and Jerry Bruckheimer-produced, 2½-hour feature—called, appropriately enough, “F1”—that married the pulsating action of “Top Gun” with the real-life universe of F1.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Wall-to-wall bodies, neon lights and pulsating house music greeted her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
Earlier Galatasaray produced a rousing performance to beat Juventus 5-2 in a pulsating contest in Turkey, with Noa Lang scoring twice for the hosts.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
He heard a pulsating sound, yet it was different from previous successful tests.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Definitions 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.
