take the pulse of

Idioms  

1. Also, feel the pulse of. Try to determine the intentions or sentiments of a person or group, as in These exit polls allegedly take the pulse of the voters, but I don't believe they're very meaningful. [First half of 1600s] Also see feel out.

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Example Sentences

On Monday and Wednesday, private gauges also take the pulse of China’s manufacturing and services sectors, respectively.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s a dizzying, bursting-at-the-seams extravaganza of an exhibition, designed through an open call process to take the pulse of what local artists are thinking and making.

From New York Times

With no way to use phones or the internet to investigate the special master thing—Davis had banned the use of both in his courtroom—I moved to the back of the room to take the pulse of the court officials and local reporters who were congregating there.

From Slate

“If you can take the pulse of the voters and congressional districts and mobilize activists and others, you’re going to be very persuasive.”

From New York Times

From methane-spewing feedlots in the Texas Panhandle to a hurricane-drowned church in Louisiana, and from ocean-eaten Easter Island in Chile to fire-scarred New South Wales in Australia, our visual journalists have gone out to take the pulse of an ailing planet.

From New York Times