pulses

Noun

pulse (plural pulses)

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; the qualitative nature of this beat.
   • Her pulse was thready and weak.
2. (broadly, metonymically) The rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health.
   • Her pulse was 110 at 8 a.m.

   Synonyms:

   heart rate, HR

3. (figuratively) A beat or throb; also, a repeated sequence of such beats or throbs.
   • When the ear receives any ſimple ſound, it is ſtruck by a ſingle pulſe of the air, which makes the ear-drum and the other membranous parts vibrate according to the nature and ſpecies of the ſtroke.1756 (date written), [Edmund Burke], “Sect. XI. The Artificial Infinite.”, in A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames]...
4. (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.
   • You can really feel the pulse of the city in this district.
5. An (increased) amount of a substance (such as a drug or an isotopic label) given over a short time.
6. (attributive) 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.

See all 20 meanings of pulse