pulse

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• Received-Pronunciation: /pʌls/
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• General-American: /pʌls/
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• General-American: [pəls]
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• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Canada: /pʊls/
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• Canada: /pʌls/
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• rhymes with -ʌls
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• rhymes with -ʊls
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• CMU ARPABET: P AH1 L S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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From Late Middle English pulse, Middle English pous, pouse (“regular beat of arteries, pulse; heartbeat; place on the body where a pulse is detectable; beat (of a musical instrument); energy, vitality”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman puls, pous, pus, and Middle French pouls, poulz, pous [and other forms], Old French pous, pulz (“regular beat of arteries; place on the body where a pulse is detectable”) (modern French pouls), and from their etymon Latin pulsus (“beat, impulse, pulse, stroke; regular beat of arteries or the heart”), from pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to banish, eject, expel; to set in motion; to strike”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat, strike; to drive; to push, thrust”)) + -sus (a variant of -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs)).

From Middle English puls (“(collectively) seeds of a leguminous plant used as food; leguminous plants collectively; a species of leguminous plant”), Early Middle English pols (in compounds), possibly from Anglo-Norman pus, puz, Middle French pouls, pols, pous, and Old French pous, pou (“gruel, mash, porridge”) (perhaps in the sense of a gruel made from pulses), or directly from their etymon Latin puls (“meal (coarse-ground edible part of various grains); porridge”), probably from Ancient Greek πόλτος (póltos, “porridge made from flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“dust; flour”) (perhaps by extension from *pel- (“to beat, strike; to drive; to push, thrust”), in the sense of something beaten).

From Late Middle English pulse, Middle English pulsen (“to pulse, throb”), from Latin pulsāre, the present active infinitive of pulsō (“to push; to beat, batter, hammer, strike; to knock on; (figuratively) to drive or urge on, impel; to move; to agitate, disquiet, disturb”), the frequentative of pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to banish, eject, expel; to set in motion; to strike”); see further at etymology 1. Doublet of push.

174 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Albanian: puls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Amharic: የልብ ትርታ (yälb tərta) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Arabic: نَبْض (nabḍ) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Arabic: نَبْضَة (nabḍa) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Arabic: نبض (nabḍ) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Armenian: պուլս (puls) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Armenian: անոթազարկ (anotʻazark) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Azerbaijani: nəbz — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Belarusian: пульс (pulʹs) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Bengali: নাড়ি (naṛi) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Bengali: স্পন্দন (spondon) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Bulgarian: пулс (puls) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Catalan: pols — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Chinese Mandarin: 脈 /脉 (mài) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Chinese Mandarin: 脈搏 /脉搏 (màibó) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Czech: puls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Czech: tep — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Danish: puls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Dutch: pols — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Esperanto: pulso — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Estonian: pulss — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Faroese: æðrasláttur — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Finnish: syke — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Finnish: pulssi — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• French: pouls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Middle French: pouls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Old French: poulz — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Galician: pulso — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Georgian: პულსი (ṗulsi) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Georgian: მაჯისცემა (maǯiscema) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• German: Puls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Greek: παλμός (palmós) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Greek: σφυγμός (sfygmós) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Ancient Greek: σφυγμός (sphugmós) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Hebrew: דֹּפֶק (dófek) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Hindi: नाड़ी (nāṛī) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Hindi: नब्ज़ (nabz) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Hungarian: pulzus — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Hungarian: érverés — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Icelandic: púls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Icelandic: æðasláttur — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Indonesian: pulsa — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Indonesian: nadi — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Irish: cuisle — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Italian: polso — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Italian: battito — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Italian: pulsazione — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Japanese: 脈 (myaku) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Japanese: 脈搏 (myakuhaku) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Kazakh: пульс (puls) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Khmer: ពូល (puul) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Khmer: ជីពចរ (ciipcɑɑ) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Korean: 맥박 (maekbak) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Northern Kurdish: rehjen — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Northern Kurdish: nebz — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Kyrgyz: пульс (puls) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Lao: ຈອນ (chǭn) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Lao: ກໍາມະຈອນ (kam ma chǭn) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Latin: pulsus — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Latvian: pulss — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Lithuanian: pulsas — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Macedonian: пулс (puls) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Malay: nadi — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Manchu: ᠮᡝ (me) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Māori: panapana o te manawa — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Mongolian: судас (sudas) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Mongolian: цохих (coxix) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Norman: pouls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Norwegian Bokmål: puls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Norwegian Nynorsk: puls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Pashto: نبض (nabz) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Persian: نبض (nabz) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Polish: tętno — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Polish: puls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Portuguese: pulso — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Romanian: puls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Russian: пульс (pulʹs) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Serbo-Croatian: пу̏лс — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Serbo-Croatian: би̏ло — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Serbo-Croatian: pȕls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Serbo-Croatian: bȉlo — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Slovak: pulz — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Slovak: tep — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Slovene: pulz — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Slovene: utrip — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Spanish: pulso — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Swahili: mapigo ya moyo — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Swedish: puls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Tagalog: pulso — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Tajik: набз (nabz) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Thai: ชีพจร (chîip-pá-jɔɔn) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Turkish: nabız — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Turkmen: puls — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Ukrainian: пульс (pulʹs) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Urdu: ناڑی (nāṛī) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Urdu: نبض (nabz) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Urdu: دھڑکن (dhaṛkan) — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Uzbek: pulʼs — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Uzbek: nabz — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Vietnamese: mạch — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Volapük: peb — normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them
• Bulgarian: пулс (puls) — nature or rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health
• Finnish: syke — nature or rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health
• Finnish: syketaajuus — nature or rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health
• Finnish: pulssi — nature or rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health
• Serbo-Croatian: пу̏лс — nature or rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health
• Serbo-Croatian: pȕls — nature or rate of this beat as an indication of a person's health
• Bulgarian: би́ене (bíene) — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Bulgarian: пулса́ция (pulsácija) — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Catalan: pulsació — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Finnish: syke — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• German: Puls — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Greek: παλμός (palmós) — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Icelandic: sláttur — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Italian: impulso — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Persian: تپ (tap) — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Portuguese: pulso — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Russian: и́мпульс (ímpulʹs) — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Serbo-Croatian: puls — beat or throb; repeated sequence of such beats or throbs — see also beat, throb
• Polish: tętno — focus of energy or vigour of an activity, place, or thing; feeling of bustle, busyness, or energy in a place
• Polish: puls — focus of energy or vigour of an activity, place, or thing; feeling of bustle, busyness, or energy in a place
• Serbo-Croatian: puls — focus of energy or vigour of an activity, place, or thing; feeling of bustle, busyness, or energy in a place
• Bulgarian: импулс (impuls) — (increased) amount of a substance given over a short time
• Serbo-Croatian: pulsna doza — (increased) amount of a substance given over a short time
• Serbo-Croatian: pulsni rad — setting on a food processor which causes it to work in a series of short bursts rather than continuously
• Serbo-Croatian: pulsni način — setting on a food processor which causes it to work in a series of short bursts rather than continuously
• Bulgarian: ритъм (ritǎm) — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Catalan: pulsació — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Galician: pulso — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• German: Puls — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Greek: παλμός (palmós) — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Icelandic: púls — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Icelandic: taktslag — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Italian: cadenza — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Italian: ritmo — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Italian: tempo — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Malay: detik — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Portuguese: pulso — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Russian: ритм (ritm) — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Serbo-Croatian: ritam — beat or tactus of a piece of music or verse
• Bulgarian: импулс (impuls) — brief burst of electromagnetic energy
• Serbo-Croatian: izboj — brief burst of electromagnetic energy
• Albanian: groshë — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• Dutch: peulen — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• Dutch: peulvruchten — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• Finnish: palkokasvi — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• French: légumineuse — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• German: Hülsenfrucht — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• Ancient Greek: ὄσπριον (ósprion) — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• Hindi: दलहन (dalhan) — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• Hindi: दाल (dāl) — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• Latin: legūmen — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• Serbo-Croatian: grahorice — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• Serbo-Croatian: leguminoze — annual leguminous plants yielding grains or seeds used as food for humans or animals; such a plant — see also legume
• Bulgarian: варива (variva) — edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants; specific kind of such a grain or seed
• Catalan: llegum — edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants; specific kind of such a grain or seed
• Hindi: दलहन (dalhan) — edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants; specific kind of such a grain or seed
• Hindi: दाल (dāl) — edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants; specific kind of such a grain or seed
• Serbo-Croatian: grahorice — edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants; specific kind of such a grain or seed
• Serbo-Croatian: leguminoze — edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants; specific kind of such a grain or seed
• Spanish: legumbre — edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants; specific kind of such a grain or seed
• Spanish: leguminosa — edible grains or seeds from leguminous plants; specific kind of such a grain or seed
• Bulgarian: пулсирам (pulsiram) — to emit or impel (something) in pulses or waves
• Finnish: syke — to emit or impel (something) in pulses or waves
• Polish: pulsować — to emit or impel (something) in pulses or waves
• Polish: tętnić — to emit or impel (something) in pulses or waves
• Portuguese: pulsar — to emit or impel (something) in pulses or waves
• Serbo-Croatian: pulsirati — to emit or impel (something) in pulses or waves
• Bulgarian: прилагам импулс (prilagam impuls) — to apply an electric current or signal that varies in strength to (something)
• Finnish: sykkiä — to expand and contract repeatedly — see also beat, throb, pulsate
• Portuguese: pulsar — to expand and contract repeatedly — see also beat, throb, pulsate
• Serbo-Croatian: pulsirati — to expand and contract repeatedly — see also beat, throb, pulsate
• Bulgarian: пулсирам (pulsiram) — of an activity, place, or thing: to bustle with energy and liveliness
• Serbo-Croatian: pulsirati — of an activity, place, or thing: to bustle with energy and liveliness