pulsate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
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
Related Words
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
- nonpulsating adjective
- pulsative adjective
- pulsatively adverb
- unpulsating adjective
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
Dear Martin
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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.
This makes the booster appear to slowly pulsate; it gets brighter and dimmer on a regular cycle as it tumbles.
From Scientific American • Sep. 15, 2023
Death is in the air; after one dancer collapses, another starts to sway and quiver, holding her hands, fingers splayed, in front of her face and chest as they pulsate in and out.
From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2023
The flute solo made the hall pulsate with a full life of its own.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2023
Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars, so named because they appear to pulsate when viewed from Earth.
From BBC • Aug. 24, 2021
It seemed to pulsate in a rhythm as faint and uneven as that of the wind.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
