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pulse

noun
/pʌls/UK/pʌls/US/pʊls/CA

Etymology

From Late Middle English pulse, Middle English pous, pouse (“regular beat of arteries, pulse; heartbeat; place on the body where a pulse is detectable; beat (of a musical instrument); energy, vitality”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman puls, pous, pus, and Middle French pouls, poulz, pous [and other forms], Old French pous, pulz (“regular beat of arteries; place on the body where a pulse is detectable”) (modern French pouls), and from their etymon Latin pulsus (“beat, impulse, pulse, stroke; regular beat of arteries or the heart”), from pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to banish, eject, expel; to set in motion; to strike”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat, strike; to drive; to push, thrust”)) + -sus (a variant of -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs)).

  1. derived from *pel-✻ — “dust; flour”
  2. derived from πόλτος — “porridge made from flour”
  3. derived from puls — “meal (coarse-ground edible part of various grains); porridge”
  4. derived from pous
  5. derived from pouls
  6. derived from pus
  7. inherited from pols
  8. inherited from puls — “(collectively) seeds of a leguminous plant used as food; leguminous plants collectively; a species of leguminous plant”

Definitions

  1. A normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin (for example, at the neck or…

    A normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin (for example, at the neck or wrist) are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them; the qualitative nature of this beat.

    • Her pulse was thready and weak.

  2. The rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health.

    • Her pulse was 110 at 8 a.m.
    • [M]y experience is that men may enjoy better health, do more work, have clearer brains, a steadier pulse, and go on to old age better without alcohol than with.

  3. A beat or throb

    A beat or throb; also, a repeated sequence of such beats or throbs.

    • When the ear receives any ſimple ſound, it is ſtruck by a ſingle pulſe of the air, which makes the ear-drum and the other membranous parts vibrate according to the nature and ſpecies of the ſtroke.
    • I roved at random through the town, / [...] / And caught once more the distant shout, / The measured pulse of racing oars / Among the willows; [...]
  4. ›+ 17 more definitions

    1. The focus of energy or vigour of an activity, place, or thing

      The focus of energy or vigour of an activity, place, or thing; also, the feeling of bustle, busyness, or energy in a place; the heartbeat.

      • You can really feel the pulse of the city in this district.

    2. An (increased) amount of a substance (such as a drug or an isotopic label) given over a…

      An (increased) amount of a substance (such as a drug or an isotopic label) given over a short time.

    3. A setting on a food processor which causes it to work in a series of short bursts rather…

      A setting on a food processor which causes it to work in a series of short bursts rather than continuously, in order to break up ingredients without liquidizing them; also, a use of this setting.

    4. The beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse

      The beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse; also, a repeated sequence of such beats.

    5. A brief burst of electromagnetic energy, such as light, radio waves, etc.

    6. Synonym of autosoliton (“a stable solitary localized structure that arises in nonlinear…

      Synonym of autosoliton (“a stable solitary localized structure that arises in nonlinear spatially extended dissipative systems due to mechanisms of self-organization”).

    7. A brief increase in the strength of an electrical signal

      A brief increase in the strength of an electrical signal; an impulse.

    8. A timed, coordinated connection, when multiple public transportation vehicles are at a…

      A timed, coordinated connection, when multiple public transportation vehicles are at a hub at the same time so that passengers can flexibly connect between them.

    9. To emit or impel (something) in pulses or waves.

      • Though a light of love she swimmeth, / Zoned with utterless desire, / And the air of her swift coming / Through thy hot veins pulseth fire.
      • Rapidly rotating dead stars, pulsars are so named because as they spin, they release beams of electromagnetic radiation across space that appear to pulse like celestial lighthouses.

    10. To give to (something, especially a cell culture) an (increased) amount of a substance,…

      To give to (something, especially a cell culture) an (increased) amount of a substance, such as a drug or an isotopic label, over a short time.

    11. To operate a food processor on (some ingredient) in short bursts, to break it up without…

      To operate a food processor on (some ingredient) in short bursts, to break it up without liquidizing it.

    12. To apply an electric current or signal that varies in strength to (something).

    13. To manipulate (an electric current, electromagnetic wave, etc.) so that it is emitted in…

      To manipulate (an electric current, electromagnetic wave, etc.) so that it is emitted in pulses.

    14. To expand and contract repeatedly, like an artery when blood is flowing though it, or the…

      To expand and contract repeatedly, like an artery when blood is flowing though it, or the heart; to beat, to throb, to vibrate, to pulsate.

      • Hot blood pulsed through my veins as I grew angrier.
      • The streets were dark, and all that could be seen was light pulsing from the disco.
      • As pulseth in thy northern skies / Th' Aurora—so, in ecstasies, / Through starry maze, my spirit flies; [...]

    15. Of an activity, place, or thing

      Of an activity, place, or thing: to bustle with energy and liveliness; to pulsate.

      • The emotion had pulsed from the outset, the Ukraine players emerging from the tunnel with blue and yellow flags around their shoulders; the rendition of their anthem seeing eyes well up.

    16. Annual leguminous plants (such as beans, lentils, and peas) yielding grains or seeds used…

      Annual leguminous plants (such as beans, lentils, and peas) yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; (countable) such a plant; a legume.

    17. Edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants, especially in a mature, dry condition

      Edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants, especially in a mature, dry condition; (countable) a specific kind of such a grain or seed.

The neighborhood

Derived

aeropulse, afterpulse, anthropulse, apulse, a pussy and a pulse, attopulse, chirped-pulse amplification, electromagnetic pulse, electropulse, finger on the pulse, have one's finger on the pulse, have one's fingers on the pulse, interpulse, intrapulse, macropulse, micropulse, monopulse, multipulse, nanopulse, nonpulse, nuclear magnetic pulse, nuclear-pulse rocket, overpulse, oxygen pulse, photopulse, postpulse, prepulse, pulsable, pulsate, pulsebeat, pulse decay time, pulse demodulator, pulse detonation engine, pulse diagnosis, pulse dialing, pulse dialling, pulseful, pulse glass, pulsejet, pulse jet · +25 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at pulse. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01pulse02throb03circulation04circulating05institution06public07happening08vibrant09pulsing

A definitional loop anchored at pulse. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at pulse

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA