as in to throb
to expand and contract in a rhythmic manner the man's heart began to palpitate, and he feared another attack was coming on

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of palpitate The Broad palpitated with energy. Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2025 The finale had the impossible task of putting the monstrous show to an unquiet grave, and while some storylines seemed rushed and others completely ignored, even everyone’s least favorite season of GOT is heart palpitating. Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 31 Jan. 2025 Representing heart-palpitating romance is the main storyline: the passion of Megha’s son Naveen (Carol Mazhuvancheril) for his boyfriend, Keshav (Noah Israel), a fellow Hindu who happens to be Caucasian. Celia Wren, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2023 The matte, phosphorescent sigils painted onto his robe appeared to palpitate in the low light. Kent Russell, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022 In one of the raciest vignettes, a man buys and eats fresh dumplings on a train, intermittently palpitating his sore gums with his fingers. Sophie Pinkham, The New York Review of Books, 8 May 2020 Angelica Hernández's heart hasn't stopped palpitating for a week. Author: Arelis R. Hernández, Cristina Corujo, Anchorage Daily News, 12 Jan. 2020 The past three seasons, their games were marked by palpitating comebacks. New York Times, 23 Nov. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for palpitate
Verb
  • That's why my leg is throbbing.
    Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2025
  • The memory of them throbbed like a splinter that had never been removed.
    Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Corporate earnings continue to beat expectations, providing enough fuel for the market rally to continue at least until investors parse through third quarter earnings results in the coming months, Teal said.
    John Towfighi, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2025
  • The rest—including in May 2023, when Nvidia had the biggest positive earnings surprise a company has ever delivered, beating expectations handily and then offering a quarterly revenue forecast that was $4 billion above expectations—is history.
    Jim Cramer, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Designer Joe Nahem of the esteemed firm Fox-Nahem was then brought in to merge the two spaces into one wildly creative space that vibrates with color, pattern, and texture.
    Mark David, Robb Report, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Each of the three biographies—any good biography—vibrates with the intensity of its author’s possession by their subject and the thrill of exhumation, if only metaphoric.
    Megan Marshall September 25, Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • When Punch’s second act at last reaches the climactic series of encounters between Jacob, David, and Joan — mediated by Nicola (Camila Canó-Flaviá), a restorative-justice worker — the often bouncy, pulsing play ends up finding its greatest strength in stillness.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025
  • The upper blocks throbbed and pulsed a deep blue, reflecting the pond’s windblown currents.
    Jack Korngold, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Palpitate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/palpitate. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.

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