pulse

pulse¹ [pʌls] n

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

1¦(heart)¦

2¦(music)¦

3¦(sound/light/electricity)¦

4¦(feelings/opinions)¦

5¦(food)¦

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

[Sense: 1-4; Date: 1300-1400; : Old French; Origin: pouls, from Latin pulsus 'beating', past participle of pellere 'to hit']

[Sense: 5; Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: pouls 'porridge', from Latin puls]

1.) ¦(HEART)¦ [C usually singular]

a) the regular beat that can be felt, for example at your wrist, as your heart pumps blood around your body

→↑heartbeat

▪ The doctor listened to his breathing and checked his pulse .

▪ His breathing was shallow and his pulse was weak .

find/detect a pulse

(=check that someone is alive by trying to feel the beat of their pulse)

▪ In an emergency it can be difficult to find a pulse.

▪ She felt his neck. There was no pulse.

b) also pulse rate

the number of heart beats per minute

take/feel sb's pulse

(=count how many times someone's heart beats in a minute, usually by feeling their wrist)

▪ Her pulse raced (=beat very quickly) with excitement.

2.) ¦(MUSIC)¦ [U and C]

a strong regular beat in music

▪ the distant pulse of a steel band

3.) ¦(SOUND/LIGHT/ELECTRICITY)¦

an amount of sound, light, or electricity that continues for a very short time

4.) ¦(FEELINGS/OPINIONS)¦[U]

the ideas, feelings, or opinions that are most important to a particular group of people or have the greatest influence on them at a particular time

▪ Clinton had an uncanny ability to sense the pulse of the nation.

5.) ¦(FOOD)¦

pulses [plural]

seeds such as beans, ↑peas, and ↑lentils that you can eat

→have/keep your finger on the pulse at ↑finger¹ (6)

pulse ²

pulse² v

1.) [I]

to move or flow with a steady quick beat or sound

▪ She felt the blood pulsing through her veins .

▪ Colored lights pulsed in time to the music.

2.) [I]

if a feeling or emotion pulses through someone, they feel it very strongly

pulse through

▪ Excitement pulsed through the crowd.

3.) [I and T]

to push a button on a ↑food processor to make the machine go on and off regularly, rather than work continuously

▪ Pulse several times until the mixture looks like oatmeal.