palpitate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to pulsate with unusual rapidity from exertion, emotion, disease, etc.; flutter.
His heart palpitated wildly.
-
to pulsate; quiver; throb; tremble.
verb (used with object)
verb
-
(of the heart) to beat with abnormal rapidity
-
to flutter or tremble
Usage
What does palpitate mean? Palpitate means to pulse, throb, or tremble. The word palpitate is most commonly used in the context of the beating of the heart. When your heart palpitates, it beats more quickly or in a fluttering way. A heart palpitation is an unusually or abnormally rapid or violent beating of the heart. Heart palpitations typically involve the heart beating hard and faster, and they may also involve an irregularity in rhythm. Less commonly, palpitate can mean to make thob or tremble. The noun palpitation can also refer to the act, process, or an instance of palpitating. Example: My doctor said my heart may be palpitating due to a combination of stress and too much caffeine.
Synonym Usage
See pulsate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
palpitatesimple
-
palpitatessimple
-
have palpitatedperfect
-
has palpitatedperfect
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am palpitatingprogressive
-
are palpitatingprogressive
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is palpitatingprogressive
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have been palpitatingperfect progressive
-
has been palpitatingperfect progressive
Past
-
palpitatedsimple
-
had palpitatedperfect
-
was palpitatingprogressive
-
were palpitatingprogressive
-
had been palpitatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of palpitate
1615–25; < Latin palpitātus, past participle of palpitāre to pulsate, frequentative of palpāre to stroke. See palpus, -ate 1
Explanation
When you watch scary movies, do you ever feel your heart palpitate? This means it beats quickly. To correctly pronounce palpitate, say: "PAL-pih-tate." Hearts aren't the only thing that can palpitate; your whole body might palpitate, or shiver. You can also palpitate something, such as what a medical professional does to a patient's heart to make it beat, potentially saving his or her life. Palpitate comes from the Latin word palpare, "to stroke."
Vocabulary lists containing palpitate
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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.
See Examples For:
“Seeing the hospital’s name come across caller ID, it caused my heart to palpitate a bit.”
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2019
Walker: I mean, at first, it probably made my heart, like, palpitate, and be like, “Aw.”
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2017
And although it made her heart palpitate temporarily, the remote danger of a heart attack seemed more bearable than losing her hearing.
From Nature ● Oct. 9, 2013
They’re warm to the touch; they practically palpitate in your hands.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2011
Damp with condensation, the brick walls appeared to palpitate in the lantern light, thrumming with the resounding force of the steam-powered engines and machinery in the rooms above.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
While he’s on the run, Sid’s mind palpitates with dread.
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2016
This is the first test of a new high-intensity underwater blue light source, and my heart palpitates in anticipation.
From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2012
His heart palpitates; his limbs are weak; he cannot digest his food; he sweats easily; he gets out of breath.
From Time Magazine Archive
The omelette palpitates under his fork, unable to believe its luck.
From Time Magazine Archive
The cheek that blushes, the eye that moistens, and the heart that palpitates, are sureties of indwelling purity and candor.
From Ernest Linwood or, The Inner Life of the Author by Hentz, Caroline Lee
Mine, by contrast, palpitated so furiously that I braced myself for cardiac arrest.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 4, 2019
No country has kept The Club busier or given it more nightmares than Britain, whose economy has palpitated in maddeningly regular intervals through a dozen sterling crises in 18 years.
From Time Magazine Archive
Betjeman's quatrains palpitated with cliches and such treacly rhymes as people/steeple, dutiful/beautiful and blue/true.
From Time Magazine Archive
My heart palpitated in the sickness of fear, and I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me:
From "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley
Mildred saw him coming; her heart palpitated a little.
From Heriot's Choice A Tale by Carey, Rosa Nouchette
“I’m sweating and my heart’s palpitating and all those things because I’m conditioned to be in that environment and go perform,” Baldwin said.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2022
“The crowd went berserk. Just for the occasion, we brought in EMTs who were standing by in case someone's heart started palpitating a little bit too quickly.”
From Fox News ● Jan. 29, 2020
Angelica Hernández’s heart hasn’t stopped palpitating for a week.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 11, 2020
That we are all of us individual moving dots, part of the same involuntary palpitating life, crisscrossing as we walk the streets.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 7, 2019
He held his breath and felt his heart palpitating.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
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.
