noun
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the act of pulsating
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physiol a rhythmic beating or pulsing esp of the heart or an artery
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pulsation
1375–1425; late Middle English pulsacioun < Latin pulsātiōn- (stem of pulsātiō ). See pulsate, -ion
Explanation
Pulsation is a throbbing, repeating rhythm, like the pulsation of your blood in your ears when you're running or the pulsation of music in a loud dance club. The pulsation of your heart is what pumps blood through your body — it moves rhythmically, expanding and contracting. Anything that throbs this way is also pulsation, like the when the car stereo is turned up so loud you can feel the beat of the music through the soles of your feet. Pulsation comes from the Latin pulsationem, "a beating or striking," and its root meaning "to thrust, strike, or drive."
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.
Excessive vascular pulsation may also disrupt the brain's "glymphatic system," a recently discovered network that removes waste substances such as beta-amyloid, a protein that accumulates in Alzheimer's disease.
From Science Daily • Oct. 14, 2025
It’s hard to know what to make of these data, which sometimes include any sign of life, such as umbilical cord pulsation, and don’t obviously differentiate miscarriage, stillbirth, and abortion.
From Slate • Sep. 17, 2024
In the opening “Future Blues,” listen for how the regular, rumbling waves of pulsation rub against trebly tendrils of wet, smacking sound.
From New York Times • Jan. 26, 2023
He recalled that Christian, a keen boxer, measured a pulse rate of 240bpm, but said there was "little pulsation" in his radial artery and "essentially no circulation" in his fingers.
From BBC • Oct. 3, 2022
“A brief pulsation in the black hole of eternity. My advice to you—” “Wait and see,” I said.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
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.
