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15 dictionary results for: Pulse

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pulse1

[puhls] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, pulsed, puls·ing.

–noun

1.	the regular throbbing of the arteries, caused by the successive contractions of the heart, esp. as may be felt at an artery, as at the wrist.

2.	a single pulsation, or beat or throb, of the arteries or heart.

3.	the rhythmic recurrence of strokes, vibrations, or undulations.

4.	a single stroke, vibration, or undulation.

5.	Electricity. a momentary, sudden fluctuation in an electrical quantity, as in voltage or current.

6.	Physics. a single, abrupt emission of particles or radiation.

7.	a throb of life, emotion, etc.

vitality.

9.	the general attitude, sentiment, preference, etc., as of the public.

–verb (used without object)

10.	to beat or throb; pulsate.

11.	to beat, vibrate, or undulate.

12.	Physics. to emit particles or radiation periodically in short bursts.

–verb (used with object)

13.	to cause to pulse.

14.	Medicine/Medical. to administer (medication) in interrupted, often concentrated dosages to avoid unwanted side effects.

[Origin: 1300–50; < L pulsus a beat, equiv. to *peld-, base of pellere to set in motion by beating or striking (cf. impel) + -tus, suffix of v. action, with dt < s and backing and raising of e before velar l; r. ME pous < MF < L, as above

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pulse2

[puhls] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the edible seeds of certain leguminous plants, as peas, beans, or lentils.

2.	a plant producing such seeds.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME puls < L: thick pap of meal, pulse. See poultice

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pulse¹ (pŭls) Pronunciation Key
n.

The rhythmical throbbing of arteries produced by the regular contractions of the heart, especially as palpated at the wrist or in the neck.
1. A regular or rhythmical beating.
2. A single beat or throb.
3. A brief sudden change in a normally constant quantity: a pulse of current; a pulse of radiation.
4. Any of a series of intermittent occurrences characterized by a brief sudden change in a quantity.
Physics
1. A brief sudden change in a normally constant quantity: a pulse of current; a pulse of radiation.
2. Any of a series of intermittent occurrences characterized by a brief sudden change in a quantity.
The perceptible emotions or sentiments of a group of people: "a man who had . . . his finger on the pulse of America" (Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.)

intr.v. pulsed, puls·ing, puls·es

To pulsate; beat: "The nation pulsed with music and proclamation, with rages and moral pretensions" (Lance Morrow).
Physics To undergo a series of intermittent occurrences characterized by brief, sudden changes in a quantity.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pulsus, from past participle of pellere, to beat; see pel-⁵ in Indo-European roots.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pulse² (pŭls) Pronunciation Key
n.

The edible seeds of certain pod-bearing plants, such as peas and beans.
A plant yielding these seeds.

[Middle English pols, from Old French, from Latin puls, pottage of meal and pulse, probably ultimately from Greek poltos.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
pulse (1)

"a throb, a beat," c.1330, from O.Fr. pous (c.1175), from L. pulsus (in pulsus venarum "beating from the blood in the veins"), pp. of pellere "to push, drive," from PIE *pel- "to shake, swing" (cf. Gk. pallein "to weild, brandish, swing," pelemizein "to shake, cause to tremble"). The verb meaning "to beat, throb" is first attested 1559.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
pulse (2)

"peas, beans, lentils," 1297, from O.Fr. pols, from L. puls "thick gruel," probably via Etruscan, from Gk. poltos "porridge."

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

pulse
noun
1.	(electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients); "the pulsations seemed to be coming from a star" [syn: pulsation]
2.	the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart; "he could feel the beat of her heart"
3.	the rate at which the heart beats; usually measured to obtain a quick evaluation of a person's health
4.	edible seeds of various pod-bearing plants (peas or beans or lentils etc.)
verb
1.	expand and contract rhythmically; beat rhythmically; "The baby's heart was pulsating again after the surgeon massaged it" [syn: pulsate]
2.	produce or modulate (as electromagnetic waves) in the form of short bursts or pulses or cause an apparatus to produce pulses; "pulse waves"; "a transmitter pulsed by an electronic tube"
3.	drive by or as if by pulsation; "A soft breeze pulsed the air"

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

pulse

see take the pulse of.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pulse (pŭls) Pronunciation Key

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.
1. A brief sudden change in a normally constant quantity, such as an electric current or field.
2. Any of a series of intermittent occurrences characterized by a brief sudden change in a quantity.

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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pulse (pŭls)
n.
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.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Pulse

Pulse\, n. [OE. puls, L. puls, pultis, a thick pap or pottage made of meal, pulse, etc. See Poultice, and cf. Pousse.] Leguminous plants, or their seeds, as beans, pease, etc.

If all the world Should, in a pet of temperance, feed on pulse. --Milton.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Pulse

Pulse\, n. [OE. pous, OF. pous, F. pouls, fr. L. pulsus (sc. venarum), the beating of the pulse, the pulse, from pellere, pulsum, to beat, strike; cf. Gr. ? to swing, shake, ? to shake. Cf. Appeal, Compel, Impel, Push.]

1. (Physiol.) The beating or throbbing of the heart or blood vessels, especially of the arteries.

Note: In an artery the pulse is due to the expansion and contraction of the elastic walls of the artery by the action of the heart upon the column of blood in the arterial system. On the commencement of the diastole of the ventricle, the semilunar valves are closed, and the aorta recoils by its elasticity so as to force part of its contents into the vessels farther onwards. These, in turn, as they already contain a certain quantity of blood, expand, recover by an elastic recoil, and transmit the movement with diminished intensity. Thus a series of movements, gradually diminishing in intensity, pass along the arterial system (see the Note under Heart). For the sake of convenience, the radial artery at the wrist is generally chosen to detect the precise character of the pulse. The pulse rate varies with age, position, sex, stature, physical and psychical influences, etc.

2. Any measured or regular beat; any short, quick motion, regularly repeated, as of a medium in the transmission of light, sound, etc.; oscillation; vibration; pulsation; impulse; beat; movement.

The measured pulse of racing oars. --Tennyson.

When the ear receives any simple sound, it is struck by a single pulse of the air, which makes the eardrum and the other membranous parts vibrate according to the nature and species of the stroke. --Burke.

Pulse glass, an instrument consisting to a glass tube with terminal bulbs, and containing ether or alcohol, which the heat of the hand causes to boil; -- so called from the pulsating motion of the liquid when thus warmed.

Pulse wave (Physiol.), the wave of increased pressure started by the ventricular systole, radiating from the semilunar valves over the arterial system, and gradually disappearing in the smaller branches.

the pulse wave travels over the arterial system at the rate of about 29.5 feet in a second. --H. N. Martin.

To feel one's pulse. (a) To ascertain, by the sense of feeling, the condition of the arterial pulse. (b) Hence, to sound one's opinion; to try to discover one's mind.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Pulse

Pulse\, v. i. To beat, as the arteries; to move in pulses or beats; to pulsate; to throb. --Ray.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Pulse

Pulse\, v. t. [See Pulsate, Pulse a beating.] To drive by a pulsation; to cause to pulsate. [R.]

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Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Pulse

(Dan. 1:12, 16), R.V. "herbs," vegetable food in general.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary