IMPULSE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does impulse mean? 

• IMPULSE (noun)
  The noun IMPULSE has 6 senses:

1. an instinctive motive

2. a sudden desire

3. the electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber

4. (electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)

5. the act of applying force suddenly

6. an impelling force or strength

  Familiarity information: IMPULSE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPULSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An instinctive motive

Classified under:

Nouns denoting goals

Synonyms:

impulse; urge

Context example:

profound religious impulses

Hypernyms ("impulse" is a kind of...):

motivation; motive; need (the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impulse"):

abience ((psychology) an urge to withdraw or avoid a situation or an object)

adience ((psychology) an urge to accept or approach a situation or an object)

death instinct; death wish; Thanatos ((psychoanalysis) an unconscious urge to die)

itchy feet; wanderlust (very strong or irresistible impulse to travel)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A sudden desire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

caprice; impulse; whim

Context example:

he bought it on an impulse

Hypernyms ("impulse" is a kind of...):

desire (the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

impulse; nerve impulse; nervous impulse; neural impulse

Context example:

they demonstrated the transmission of impulses from the cortex to the hypothalamus

Hypernyms ("impulse" is a kind of...):

electrical discharge (a discharge of electricity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impulse"):

action potential (the local voltage change across the cell wall as a nerve impulse is transmitted)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

impulse; pulsation; pulse; pulsing

Context example:

the pulsations seemed to be coming from a star

Hypernyms ("impulse" is a kind of...):

undulation; wave ((physics) a movement up and down or back and forth)

Domain category:

electronics (the branch of physics that deals with the emission and effects of electrons and with the use of electronic devices)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The act of applying force suddenly

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

impetus; impulse; impulsion

Context example:

the impulse knocked him over

Hypernyms ("impulse" is a kind of...):

drive; driving force; thrust (the act of applying force to propel something)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An impelling force or strength

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

impulse; momentum

Context example:

the car's momentum carried it off the road

Hypernyms ("impulse" is a kind of...):

force; forcefulness; strength (physical energy or intensity)

 Context examples 

Time and again the impulse surged over White Fang, and each time, as he yielded to it, he was checked by the master's voice.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

A projection of a neuron that conducts electrical impulses away from the neuronal cell body.

(Axon, NCI Thesaurus)

An electrocardiographic finding of complete failure of atrial electrical impulse conduction to the ventricles.

(AV Block Third Degree by ECG Finding, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

“The first mistaken impulse of an undisciplined heart.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A disorder characterized by a dysrhythmia with a progressively lengthening PR interval prior to the blocking of an atrial impulse.

(AV Block Second Degree Mobitz Type I, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

He was waiting for some impulse, from he knew not where, to put his stopped life into motion again.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Mexiletine's anesthetic activity is due to its ability to block sodium influx in peripheral nerves, thereby reducing the rate and intensity of pain impulses reaching the central nervous system.

(Mexiletine, NCI Thesaurus)

This leads to a blockage of nerve impulse conduction and results in a loss of sensation.

(Mepivacaine Hydrochloride, NCI Thesaurus)

"We shall see," said the Professor, and with one impulse we took our way out of the churchyard, he carrying the sleeping child.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

One of the neural pathways that transmit impulses from the eyes to the cerebral cortex.

(Anterior Visual Pathway, NCI Thesaurus)