Pulse

[Lat. pulsus (sc. venarum), the beating of the pulse, the pulse, from pellere, pulsum, to beat, strike; Sp. & Pg. pulso, It. polso, Pr. pols, Fr. pouls.] 1. (Physiol.) The beating or throbbing of the heart or blood-vessels, especially of the arteries. It is due to the dilatation and elongation of the elastic walls of the artery, by the action of the heart upon the column of blood in the arterial system. Its varying frequency and rhythm from the varying activity of the heart, and its varying rapidity and tension from the varying activity of the capillary circulation, afford important indications in disease. For the sake of convenience, the radial artery at the wrist is generally chosen to detect the precise character of the pulse. 2. Any measured or regular beat; any short, quick motion, regularly repeated, as of a medium in the transmission of light, sound, &c.; oscillation; vibration; pulsation. “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 ear-drum and the other membranous parts vibrate according to the nature and species of the stroke. Burke. To feel one's pulse, to sound one's opinion; to try or to know one's mind.

To beat, as the arteries; to move in pulses or beats. Ray.

[Lat. pellere, pulsum, to beat, strike, drive.] To drive, as the pulse. [Rare.]

n. [Lat. puls, pultis, Gr. πόλτος, a thick pap or pottage made of meal, pulse, &c. Cf. Pousse.] Leguminous plants, or their seeds; as beans, peas, &c. If all the world Should, in a pet of temperance, feed on pulse. Milton.