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impulse
[ im-puhls ]
noun
- the influence of a particular feeling, mental state, etc.:
to act under a generous impulse; to strike out at someone from an angry impulse.
- sudden, involuntary inclination prompting to action:
to be swayed by impulse.
- an instance of this.
- a psychic drive or instinctual urge.
- an impelling action or force, driving onward or inducing motion.
- the effect of an impelling force; motion induced; impetus given.
- Physiology. a progressive wave of excitation over a nerve or muscle fiber, having either a stimulating or inhibitory effect.
- Mechanics. the product of the average force acting upon a body and the time during which it acts, equivalent to the change in the momentum of the body produced by such a force.
- Electricity. a single, usually sudden, flow of current in one direction.
adjective
- marked by or acting on impulse:
an impulse buyer.
- bought or acquired on impulse:
To reduce expenses, shun impulse items when shopping.
impulse
/ ˈɪmpʌls /
noun
- an impelling force or motion; thrust; impetus
- a sudden desire, whim, or inclination
I bought it on an impulse
- an instinctive drive; urge
- tendency; current; trend
- physics
- the product of the average magnitude of a force acting on a body and the time for which it acts
- the change in the momentum of a body as a result of a force acting upon it for a short period of time
- physiol See nerve impulse
- electronics a less common word for pulse 1
- on impulsespontaneously or impulsively
impulse
/ ĭm′pŭls′ /
- A sudden flow of electrical current in one direction.
- An electrical signal traveling along the axon of a neuron. Nerve impulses excite or inhibit activity in other neurons or in the tissues of the body, such as muscles and glands.
- The change of momentum of a body or physical system over a time interval in classical mechanics, equal to the force applied times the length of the time interval over which it is applied.
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of impulse1
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Example Sentences
Not long after, renowned American philosopher William James wrote in his essay “The Moral Equivalent of War” that Americans should redirect their combative impulses away from their fellow humans and onto “Nature.”
The impulse to help is wonderful—so make sure you put it to good use.
Sometimes that means putting a lid on harmful impulses and urges that arise from the limbic area.
On each site, people moved by the very human impulse to care about vulnerable children began repeating what they saw to their friends and followers.
If we hope to live in a society that is better than its worst impulses, we must use this awful moment to drive and accelerate positive change.
The impulse to interpret seems to me what makes personal essay writing compelling.
In “Not What It Used To Be,” you write about talking to your younger self, which is an impulse I think many of us will understand.
And I was wondering how you combat that impulse to reject the young?
The question is not whether they are right or wrong but why they feel an impulse to dispense their advice in the first place.
As to whether the MRAP was an impulse buy, Ms. Kroemer assured me it was not.
To reproduce the impulse born of the thought—this is the aim of a psychological method.
Genoa has but recently and partially felt the new impulse, yet even here the march of improvement is visible.
It is the dramatic impulse of childhood endeavouring to bring life into the dulness of the serious hours.
Those in whom the impulse is strong and dominant are perhaps those who in later years make the good society actors.
This impulse to extend rule appears more plainly in many of the little ceremonial observances of the child.
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