pulse

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈpəls 

1

a

: the regular expansion of an artery caused by the ejection of blood into the arterial system by the contractions of the heart

b

: the palpable beat resulting from such pulse as detected in a superficial artery

also : the number of individual beats in a specified time period (such as one minute)

a resting pulse of 70

2

a

: rhythmical beating, vibrating, or sounding

b

: beat, throb

3

a

: underlying sentiment or opinion or an indication of it

b

: vitality

4

a

: a transient variation of a quantity (such as electric current or voltage) whose value is normally constant

b(1)

: an electromagnetic wave or modulation thereof of brief duration

(2)

: a brief disturbance of pressure in a medium

especially : a sound wave or short train of sound waves

5

: a dose of a substance especially when applied over a short period of time

pulses of intravenous methylprednisolone

pulse

2 of 3

verb

pulsed; pulsing

intransitive verb

: to exhibit a pulse or pulsation : throb

transitive verb

1

: to drive by or as if by a pulsation

2

: to cause to pulsate

3

a

: to produce or modulate (something, such as electromagnetic waves) in the form of pulses

pulsed waves

b

: to cause (an apparatus) to produce pulses

pulser noun

pulse

3 of 3

noun (2)

: the edible seeds of various crops (such as peas, beans, or lentils) of the legume family

also : a plant yielding pulse

Synonyms

Verb

• beat
• palpitate
• pit-a-pat
• pitter-patter
• pulsate
• throb

Noun (2)

• beat
• beating
• palpitation
• pulsation
• throb

Examples of pulse in a Sentence

Verb

He could feel the blood pulsing through his veins.

Dance music pulsed from the speakers.

The city pulses with life.

his resting pulse rate is much lower than that of most men his age

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Some healthcare providers even use grip strength as a vital sign, along with blood pressure, body temperature, pulse, and breathing rate, to monitor overall health. —Stephanie Brown, Verywell Health, 14 May 2025

Venturing into the underground sanctuary of The Warehouse, where Frankie Knuckles spun revolutionary sounds, Vince teamed up with Jesse Saunders to form Z Factor, a scrappy collective of visionaries who captured the pulse of Chicago’s underground on wax. —Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 13 May 2025

Verb

In a food processor, pulse the strawberries until partially smooth with some chunks, 5–10 pulses. —Adam and Toby Diltz, Saveur, 1 May 2025

The Nashville singer-songwriter waited a full day with the high-pitched, pulsing sound before calling her doctor to check her ears. —Adrianna Rodriguez, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English pous, pouce, pulse, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French pous, polz, puls, borrowed from Latin pulsus "action of beating or striking, beat, stroke, beat of the heart" ("pulse" in phrase pulsus venārum/artēriārum, literally, "beating of the veins/arteries"), noun of action from pellere "to beat against, push, strike, rouse, expel, repulse," of uncertain origin

Note: The etymology of pellere is problematic, because it lacks an obvious formal and semantic counterpart in other Indo-European languages. A traditional explanation derives it from a base *pel-d-, with the *-d- a present-tense formative marking an action reaching a definite termination (thus Ernout and Meillet in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine, 8. édition, 1985; cf. tender entry 3). A hypothetically related form would be Greek pállō, pállein "to poise (a missile before it is thrown), brandish, swing, shake" (Epic aorist pêlai, 3rd singular passive pálto), though semantically the comparison is weak. A base *pel-d- would correctly produce the past participle pulsus (from *poltos < *pl̥d-t-os); however the frequentative verb pultāre "to strike repeatedly," attested in Plautus alongside pulsāre, suggests that the original past participle may have been *pultus. According to an alternative hypothesis, pellere is descended from an Indo-European base *pelh₂- "approach, draw near," seen in Greek pílnamai "I draw near to, make contact with," 3rd singular aorist plêto, verbal adjective in the negated form áplētos, áplātos "unapproachable, monstrous." (The assumed semantic shift is from "approach, touch" to "push, strike.") Both Latin and Greek verbs would continue a present with nasal infix *pl̥-ne-h₂-/pl̥n-h₂-. These presumably are seen also in Umbrian ampentu, apentu, ampetu, 3rd singular imperative (allegedly "touches, brings near," with the prefix an- "up, upon," but the meaning of this verb, describing the first action of an animal sacrifice in the Iguvine Tables, is quite uncertain); Old Irish ˑella in adˑella "(s/he) visits, approaches," doˑella "(s/he) turns aside, goes astray" (< *φal-na-?; e-vocalism is secondary) and eblaid "(s/he) will drive/impel," suppletive future to aigid "(s/he) drives" (< *pi-plā-); Middle Welsh el, 3rd person singular present subjunctive of mynet "to go" (< *pel-ase/o-). Note that alongside pellere there is a group of first-conjugation verbs with the same base pell- that occur only with prefixes: appellāre "to speak to, address, name," compellāre "to address, appeal to, rebuke," interpellāre "to interrupt" (see appeal entry 2, compellation, interpellate). According to P. Schrijver (The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Latin, Rodopi, 1991, pp. 408-12), these are a relic of an original nasal present *pel-n-a-C (< *pl̥-ne-h₂- with full-grade vocalism) given a thematic suffix *-i̯e/o- in derivatives. These verbs have the common underlying sense "to address (positively or negatively)," which fits fairly well with the hypothetical meaning "approach" of the base *pelh₂-. For English borrowings of prefixed forms of pellere see compel, dispel, expel, impel, propel, repel.

Verb

Middle English pulsen "to throb," in part borrowed from Latin pulsāre "to strike with repeated blows, beat, (in passive) beat wildly (of the heart)," in part verbal derivative of pous, pouce, pulse pulse entry 1 — more at pulse entry 1

Noun (2)

Middle English puls, probably from Anglo-French puuiz gruel, from Latin pult-, puls, probably from Greek poltos

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun (2)

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing pulse

• check/take/feel someone's pulse
• electromagnetic pulse
• have/keep/put one's finger on the pulse of
• heart/pulse rate
• pulse-jet engine
• pulse oximeter
• pulse oximetry

Rhymes for pulse

• dulce
• convulse
• repulse

Kids Definition

pulse

1 of 3 noun

ˈpəls 

: the edible seeds of several crops (as peas, beans, or lentils) of the legume family

also : a plant yielding pulse

pulse

2 of 3 noun

1

: a regular throbbing caused in the arteries by the contractions of the heart

2

a

: rhythmical beating or throbbing

b

: pulsation, beat, throb

3

a

: a brief variation of a quantity (as electrical current) whose value is normally constant

b

: an electromagnetic wave or a sound wave lasting only a short length of time

pulse

3 of 3 verb

pulsed; pulsing

: to display a pulse or pulsation

the veins in his forehead pulsed

Medical Definition

pulse

1 of 2 noun

ˈpəls 

1

a

: a regularly recurrent wave of distension in arteries that results from the progress through an artery of blood injected into the arterial system at each contraction of the ventricles of the heart

b

: the palpable beat resulting from such pulse as detected in a superficial artery (as the radial artery)

a very soft pulse

also : the number of such beats in a specified period of time (as one minute)

a resting pulse of 70

2

: pulsation

3

a

: a transient variation of a quantity (as electric current or voltage) whose value is normally constant

—often used of current variations produced artificially and repeated either with a regular period or according to some code

b

: an electromagnetic wave or modulation thereof having brief duration

c

: a brief disturbance transmitted through a medium

4

: a dose of a substance especially when applied over a short period of time

therapy with pulses of intravenous methylprednisolone

pulse

2 of 2 verb

pulsed; pulsing

intransitive verb

: to exhibit a pulse or pulsation

transitive verb

1

: to cause to pulsate

2

a

: to produce or modulate (as electromagnetic waves) in the form of pulses

pulsed waves

b

: to cause (an apparatus) to produce pulses