pulse
1- the regular throbbing of the arteries, caused by the successive contractions of the heart, especially as may be felt at an artery, as at the wrist.
- a single pulsation, or beat or throb, of the arteries or heart.
- the rhythmic recurrence of strokes, vibrations, or undulations.
- a single stroke, vibration, or undulation.
- Electricity. a momentary, sudden fluctuation in an electrical quantity, as in voltage or current.
- Physics. a single, abrupt emission of particles or radiation.
- a throb of life, emotion, etc.
- vitality.
- the general attitude, sentiment, preference, etc., as of the public.
- to beat or throb; pulsate.
- to beat, vibrate, or undulate.
- Physics. to emit particles or radiation periodically in short bursts.
- to cause to pulse.
- Medicine/Medical. to administer (medication) in interrupted, often concentrated dosages to avoid unwanted side effects.
Origin of pulse
1Related Words for pulsing
drum, fluctuate, hammer, oscillate, palpitate, pound, pump, roar, throb, thud, thump, tick, vibrate, thrumExamples from the Web for pulsing
Contemporary Examples of pulsing
There are no pulsing lights, no computer-generated rock music, no pictures of 007.
One nurse pushed her hip alarm and the pulsing shriek rang out again.
The bugs are so loud that stepping into the darkness feels like being surrounded by an enormous, pulsing heart.
The pulsing sound from their tsokais (African rattles) and bells join the African beat blasting from a nearby silver MacBook.
But any permanent solution to the conflict must address the pulsing cyst at its heart.
Historical Examples of pulsing
But it was all very wonderful, pulsing with life, eloquent of achievement.
The Vagrant DukeGeorge Gibbs
Stark and cruelly naked they lay there, pulsing with life that should not have been.
The Affair of the BrainsAnthony Gilmore
The pulsing, throbbing pandemonium was terrific as the march began.
Her thin neck throbbed with the pulsing of blood to her head.
Other Main-Travelled RoadsHamlin Garland
You're young and pulsing with life, and there are—thank Heaven!
Uncanny TalesVarious
pulse
1- physiol
- the rhythmic contraction and expansion of an artery at each beat of the heart, often discernible to the touch at points such as the wrists
- a single pulsation of the heart or arteries
- physics electronics
- a transient sharp change in voltage, current, or some other quantity normally constant in a system
- one of a series of such transient disturbances, usually recurring at regular intervals and having a characteristic geometric shape
- (as modifier)a pulse generator Less common name: impulse
- a recurrent rhythmic series of beats, waves, vibrations, etc
- any single beat, wave, etc, in such a series
- bustle, vitality, or excitementthe pulse of a city
- the feelings or thoughts of a group or society as they can be measuredthe pulse of the voters
- keep one's finger on the pulse to be well-informed about current events
- (intr) to beat, throb, or vibrate
- (tr) to provide an electronic pulse to operate (a slide projector)
Word Origin for pulse
pulse
2- the edible seeds of any of several leguminous plants, such as peas, beans, and lentils
- the plant producing any of these seeds
Word Origin for pulse
Word Origin and History for pulsing
pulse
"a throb, a beat," early 14c., from Old French pous, pulse (late 12c., Modern French pouls) and directly from Latin pulsus (in pulsus venarum "beating from the blood in the veins"), past participle of pellere "to push, drive," from PIE *pel- (6) "to thrust, strike, drive" (cf. Greek pallein "to wield, brandish, swing," pelemizein "to shake, cause to tremble"). Extended usages from 16c. Figurative use for "life, vitality, essential energy" is from 1530s.
pulse
pulse
"to beat, throb," early 15c., from pulse (n.1) or else from Latin pulsare "to beat, throb," and in part from French. Related: Pulsed; pulsing.
pulse
(pŭls)- The rhythmical dilation of arteries produced when blood is pumped outward by regular contractions of the heart, especially as palpated at the wrist or in the neck.
pulse
- The rhythmic expansion and contraction of the arteries as blood is pumped through them by the heart. The pulse can be felt at several parts of the body, as over the carotid and radial arteries.
- A dose of a medication or other substance given over a short period of time, usually repetitively.
- A brief sudden change in a normally constant quantity, such as an electric current or field.
- Any of a series of intermittent occurrences characterized by a brief sudden change in a quantity.
Idioms and Phrases with pulsing
pulse
see take the pulse of.