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.
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.
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.
The measured pulse of racing oars. --Tennyson.
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.
{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.
the pulse wave travels over the arterial system at the rate of about 29.5 feet in a second. --H. N. Martin.
{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.
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.
If all the world Should, in a pet of temperance, feed on pulse. --Milton.
Pulse \Pulse\, v. i. To beat, as the arteries; to move in pulses or beats; to pulsate; to throb. --Ray.
Pulse \Pulse\, v. t. [See {Pulsate}, {Pulse} a beating.] To drive by a pulsation; to cause to pulsate. [R.]
In one commercial, it focuses on Mazda's "telemetry" center, where scientists monitor a driver's pulse rate and heartbeat, among other vital signs, to ascertain how driving a Mazda feels.
In the meantime there was another mishap, a small power pulse on Aug. 7 which caused the reactor to be shut down on Aug. 9.
"For politics, the most important thing is to know the mood of the people, to feel the pulse of life," Gorbachev said in remarks carried by the official news agency Tass.
Pirelli's new laser light pulse generator is able to fire bursts of light 10,000 times shorter than current systems, allowing more signals to be packed into a single line. Pirelli: Italy, 2 85351.
The frail monarch's pulse rate rose to 118 per minute early in the evening, Imperial Household Agency spokesman Kenji Maeda said. The rate is about the same as that of a normal person while running.
As a marketer, "my finger has to be on the pulse of whatever will motivate sales," she explains. "In the city you're more aware of that.
Just label it,'" says Mona Doyle, president of Consumer Network Inc., which monitors the public's pulse on food issues.
His pulse was 104, up from 81 in the morning.
At once my pulse began to settle; my cells were drenched with lifeforce; I started to hum a hymn; I blessed the people around me. Have you seen highlife recently?
In 1958, the pair's work led to development of the radio frequency cardiac pacemaker, which was designed for patients with Stokes-Adams disease _ a condition marked by a slow, irregular pulse.
Add singer Annie Lennox's dry delivery, and the resulting sounds have both the pulse and personality of a locomotive.
The Empress II is equipped with two diesel generators and a huge antenna system, capable of sending "pulses" of electrical power into the atmosphere at power levels up to 7 million volts to test a phenomenon known as electro-magnetic pulse, or EMP.
One reason is that people like Mr. Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer of "Cats" and "Phantom," have their hands on the pulse of what people are looking for in musicals.
This enabled the reduction of pulse wavelengths from metres to centimetres, which in turn enabled considerable extension and enhancement of radar's abilities.
There are similar grave and obvious flaws in a Democratic convention that has been to journalism what electromagnetic pulse would be to AT&T.
It was the kind of news that gets the pulse racing in some vulture buyers and other long-term investors.
Another profits warning from Rhone-Poulenc does not inspire confidence that management has its finger on the pulse.
At $40 a pair, the liners offer 17 times more protection than heavy leather gloves and yet allow the wearer to take a pulse or pick up a dime.
Caldwell could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but last week she told the AP that the nursing home had believed Ms. Stringfellow was dead because "she had no pulse, no blood pressure, nothing.
The military-aid option requires a risky effort to reshape congressional opinion, while the safer option requires only taking Congress's pulse and crafting a package to suit it.
Since Oct. 19, New York has become more aware than ever that its pulse is linked directly to the stock market's erratic heartbeat.
The media start taking the pulse of the Church of England and pronouncing the old dear moribund.
"Gallo has a good pulse on the market, but they are very slow to react."
His pulse was weak, and to ease his breathing the doctor ordered a bottle of champagne.
Neither one had a pulse when pulled from the water, Rowane said.
The verse is remarkably regular in its iambic pentameter pulse, sentences almost always reach their close at the close of a verse line, imagery is eloquent but simply wrought.
A physician at the party was unable to detect any pulse, and she presumably was dead.
Prolonged exposure can lead to a rapid, feeble pulse and circulatory collapse.
The system generates an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that lasts just 10 billionths of a second, but measures 50,000 volts per meter at 100 meters from the barge in all directions.
Robert Strom alleged the aerospace company used him to test the effects of electromagnetic pulse radiation, a blast of electrical energy created during a nuclear explosion.