heartbeat
Americannoun
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.
But research published in 2023 suggests this chemical messenger may also influence a small structure that performs a vital job during every heartbeat: the mitral valve.
From Science Daily • Jul. 12, 2026
Her doctors attributed it to a severely irregular heartbeat, caused by a mycoplasma infection in her heart.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
“Each time the museum records the humidity or hears the water inside the trunks we can talk about the heartbeat of a tree,” says Anadol, with obvious delight.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
After an hour’s wait in the rain, they got their reward: Fireflies pulsing in sync, almost like a heartbeat.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
My heartbeat echoes in my eardrums, and my throat has gone bone dry.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
