Pul"sa*to*ry (?), a. [Cf. F. pulsatoire.] Capable of pulsating;
throbbing. Sir H. Wotton. .
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, 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.
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, v. i. To beat, as the arteries; to move in pulses or beats; to
pulsate; to throb. Ray.
Pulse, v. t. [See Pulsate, Pulse a beating.] To drive by a pulsation;
to cause to pulsate. [R.]
Pulse"less, a. Having no pulsation; lifeless.
Pulse"less*ness, n. The state of being pulseless.
Pul*sif"ic (?), a. [Pulse + L. facere to make.] Exciting the pulse;
causing pulsation.
Pul*sim"e*ter (?), n. [Pulse + -meter.] (Physiol.) A sphygmograph.
Pul"sion (?), n. [L. pulsio, fr. pellere, pulsum, to drive: cf. F.
pulsion.] The act of driving forward; propulsion; -- opposed to suction
or traction. [R.]
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Pul"sive (?), a. Tending to compel; compulsory. [R.] "The pulsive
strain of conscience." Marston.