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heartbeat

 - 5 dictionary results

heart⋅beat

  [hahrt-beet]
Use heartbeat in a Sentence
–noun Physiology.
a pulsation of the heart, including one complete systole and diastole.
Origin:
1840–50; heart + beat
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To heartbeat
heart·beat   (härt'bēt')   
n.  

  1. A single complete pulsation of the heart.

  2. A vital force or driving impulse: Broadway is the heartbeat of the New York City theater world.

  3. An instant: The police arrived at the scene in a heartbeat.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: heart·beat
Pronunciation: 'härt-"bEt
Function: noun
: one complete pulsation of the heart
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

heartbeat heart·beat (härt'bēt')
n.
A single complete pulsation of the heart.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

heartbeat
1. The signal emitted by a Level 2 Ethernet transceiver at the end of every packet to show that the collision-detection circuit is still connected.
2. A periodic synchronisation signal used by software or hardware, such as a bus clock or a periodic interrupt.
3. The "natural" oscillation frequency of a computer's clock crystal, before frequency division down to the machine's clock rate.
4. A signal emitted at regular intervals by software to demonstrate that it is still alive. Sometimes hardware is designed to reboot the machine if it stops hearing a heartbeat. See also breath-of-life packet, watchdog.
[The Jargon File]
(1996-03-12)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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