v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Pulsated p. pr. & vb. n. Pulsating. ] [ L. pulsatus, p. p. of pulsare to beat, strike, v. intens. fr. pellere to beat, strike, drive. See Pulse a beating, and cf. Pulse, v. ] To throb, as a pulse; to beat, as the heart. [ 1913 Webster ]

The heart of a viper or frog will continue to pulsate long after it is taken from the body. E. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. It. pulsatile, Sp. pulsatil. ] 1. Capable of being struck or beaten; played by beating or by percussion; as, a tambourine is a pulsatile musical instrument. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Pulsating; throbbing, as a tumor. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. ] (Bot.) A genus of ranunculaceous herbs including the pasque flower. This genus is now merged in Anemone. Some species, as Anemone Pulsatilla, Anemone pratensis, and Anemone patens, are used medicinally. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. pulsatio a beating or striking: cf. F. pulsation. ] 1. (Physiol.) A beating or throbbing, especially of the heart or of an artery, or in an inflamed part; a beat of the pulse. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A single beat or throb of a series. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A stroke or impulse by which some medium is affected, as in the propagation of sounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) Any touching of another's body willfully or in anger. This constitutes battery. [ 1913 Webster ]

By the Cornelian law, pulsation as well as verberation is prohibited. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. pulsatif. ] Beating; throbbing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] 1. A beater; a striker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mech.) That which beats or throbs in working. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. pulsatoire. ] Capable of pulsating; throbbing. Sir H. Wotton. . [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

If all the world
Should, in a pet of temperance, feed on pulse. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. &unr_; to swing, shake, &unr_; to shake. Cf. Appeal, Compel, Impel, Push. ] 1. (Physiol.) The beating or throbbing of the heart or blood vessels, especially of the arteries. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The measured pulse of racing oars. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ] the pulse wave travels over the arterial system at the rate of about 29.5 feet in a second. H. N. Martin. [ 1913 Webster ] --
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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To beat, as the arteries; to move in pulses or beats; to pulsate; to throb. Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]