Pulse
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
pulse
n 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}, {pulsing}, {pulse}, {impulse}]
2: the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with
each beat of the heart; "he could feel the beat of her heart"
[syn: {pulse}, {pulsation}, {heartbeat}, {beat}]
3: the rate at which the heart beats; usually measured to obtain
a quick evaluation of a person's health [syn: {pulse}, {pulse
rate}, {heart rate}]
4: edible seeds of various pod-bearing plants (peas or beans or
lentils etc.)
v 1: expand and contract rhythmically; beat rhythmically; "The
baby's heart was pulsating again after the surgeon massaged
it" [syn: {pulsate}, {throb}, {pulse}]
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" [syn: {pulse}, {pulsate}]
3: drive by or as if by pulsation; "A soft breeze pulsed the
air"
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
[1913 Webster]
If all the world
Should, in a pet of temperance, feed on pulse.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
The measured pulse of racing oars. --Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
{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.
[1913 Webster]
the pulse wave travels over the arterial system at
the rate of about 29.5 feet in a second. --H. N.
Martin.
[1913 Webster]
{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.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
149 Moby Thesaurus words for "pulse":
algae, alternate, arrhythmia, arsis, autophyte, bar beat,
be here again, bean, beat, beating, bicker, bout, bracken,
brown algae, circle, circuit, climber, come again, come and go,
come around, come round, come round again, come up again, conferva,
confervoid, course, creeper, cycle, dance, diastole, diatom,
downbeat, drum, drumming, echo pulse, fern, flap, flick, flicker,
flip, flit, flitter, flop, flutter, fruits and vegetables, fucus,
fungus, go pitapat, grapevine, green algae, gulfweed, gutter,
hammering, heartbeat, heartthrob, herb, heterophyte, intermit, ivy,
kelp, legume, lentil, liana, lichen, liverwort, mold, moss,
mushroom, offbeat, oscillate, palpitate, palpitating, palpitation,
pant, parasite, parasitic plant, pea, perthophyte, phytoplankton,
pitapat, pitter-patter, planktonic algae, plant families, pounding,
puffball, pulsate, pulsating, pulsation, pulsing, rat-a-tat,
rataplan, reappear, recur, red algae, reoccur, repeat, resonate,
return, reverberating, reverberation, revolution, revolve, rhythm,
rockweed, roll around, rotate, rotation, round, rust, saprophyte,
sargasso, sargassum, sea lentil, sea moss, sea wrack, seaweed,
series, slat, smut, spell, splutter, sputter, staccato, succulent,
systole, tempo, thesis, throb, throbbing, thrumming, thumping,
tick, ticktock, toadstool, trigger pulse, turn, undulate, upbeat,
vetch, vibrate, vibrating, vibration, vine, wave, waver, wheel,
wheel around, wort, wrack
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