Definition of "pulse"

(physiology)

1. 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.  examples

2. The nature or rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • [A] Pulſe which is ſlow and large denotes ſufficient remains of ſtrength, tenſion, and thickneſs of the fibres of the heart and arteries, and a viſcid and tenacious blood. All unequal Pulſes are very bad, ſince they denote that there is neither a due influx of the ſpirits, nor a proper and equal mixture of the blood; but particularly ſuch Pulſes always prognoſticate unlucky events, when they are weak.

     1764, “№ XXVII. A Dissertation on the Pulse, and the Dijudication Drawn therefrom.”, in The Medical Museum: Or, A Repository of Cases, Experiments, Researches, and Discoveries Collected at Home and Abroad […], volume III, London: […] W. Richardson and S. Clark; and sold by W. Bristow, […], page 216

   • [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.

     1870 May 21, Thomas Cash, “United Kingdom Band of Hope Union. Annual Conference.”, in The Temperance Record. The Organ of the National Temperance League, number 738, London: William Tweedie, […], page 247, column 2

(figuratively) A beat or throb; also, a repeated sequence of such beats or throbs.  quotations  examples

(figuratively) 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.  examples

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

(cooking, chiefly attributively) 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.  examples

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

(physics)

1. A brief burst of electromagnetic energy, such as light, radio waves, etc.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • A thin ruby crystal is illuminated by two successive intense short pulses of coherent light, t seconds apart, obtained from a ruby-laser source. As expected, the crystal will transmit the two pulses t seconds apart. But then one observes a curious additional feature: a third light pulse emerges spontanously from the crystal about t seconds following the second pulse, and still relatively intense.

     1969, “[Scientific Progress in F[iscal] Y[ear] 69: Electronics] The Photon Echo”, in Jacob Seiden, editor, OAR Progress for 1969 (OAR 69-0017; AD 699300), Arlington, Va.: Office of Aerospace Research, United States Air Force, page 71, column 1

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

3. (also electronics) A brief increase in the strength of an electrical signal; an impulse.  examples

(transport) 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.  examples

(transitive, also figuratively) To emit or impel (something) in pulses or waves.  quotations  examples

(transitive, chiefly biology, chemistry) 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.

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

(transitive, electronics, physics)

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

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

(intransitive, chiefly figuratively and literary) 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.  quotations  examples

(intransitive, figuratively) Of an activity, place, or thing: to bustle with energy and liveliness; to pulsate.  quotations  examples

(uncountable) 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.  examples

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