Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An impelling force; an impetus.
- n. The motion produced by such a force.
- n. A sudden wish or urge that prompts an unpremeditated act or feeling; an abrupt inclination: had an impulse to run away; an impulse of regret that made me hesitate; bought a hat on impulse.
- n. A motivating force or tendency: "Respect for the liberty of others is not a natural impulse in most men” ( Bertrand Russell).
- n. Electronics A surge of electrical power in one direction.
- n. Physics The product obtained by multiplying the average value of a force by the time during which it acts. The impulse equals the change in momentum produced by the force in this time interval.
- n. Physiology The electrochemical transmission of a signal along a nerve fiber that produces an excitatory or inhibitory response at a target tissue, such as a muscle or another nerve.
- adj. Characterized by impulsiveness or acting on impulse: an impulse shopper; impulse buying.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Force communicated suddenly; the effect of an impelling force; a thrust; a push.
- n. Specifically In mech.: An infinite force or action enduring for an infinitely short time, so as to produce a finite momentum. Strictly speaking, there is no such natural force; but mathematicians find it convenient to treat such actions as the blow of a hammer as if of this nature.
- n. The resultant of all such forces acting on a body at any instant, resolved into a couple and a force along the axis of that couple.
- n. The momentum produced by a force in any time.
- n. A stimulation of the mind to action; the impelling force of appetite, desire, aversion, or other emotion; especially, a sudden disposition to perform some act which is not the result of reflection; sudden determination.
- n. Any communication of force; any compelling action; instigation.
- n. A mental impression; an idea.
- n. Shock; onset.
- To give an impulse to; incite; instigate.
Wiktionary
- n. A thrust; a push; a sudden force that impels.
- n. A wish or urge, particularly a sudden one.
- n. The integral of force over time.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The act of impelling, or driving onward with sudden force; impulsion; especially, force so communicated as to produced motion suddenly, or immediately.
- n. The effect of an impelling force; motion produced by a sudden or momentary force.
- n. The action of a force during a very small interval of time; the effect of such action.
- n. A mental force which simply and directly urges to action; hasty inclination; sudden motive; momentary or transient influence of appetite or passion; propension; incitement.
- v. To impel; to incite.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber
- n. an impelling force or strength
- n. an instinctive motive
- n. (electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)
- n. the act of applying force suddenly
- n. a sudden desire
Etymologies
- Latin impulsus, from past participle of impellere, to impel; see impel.
Examples
“As regards studies of the abnormalities of the sexual impulse, under the name of _paradoxical sexual impulse_ cases have been published in which that impulse manifested itself at an age of life in which it is normally non-existent -- old age and childhood.”
“However, he says, today the main impulse is to try to make the books as distinct as possible because they need to stay on the shelves longer.”
“I do have to consciously stop myself from even asking, but the impulse is always there.”
“What this means is that your eating isn't eternally out of control; it's out of control only at certain times, during what I call impulse moments.”
“Not acting on our every impulse is supposedly what makes us different from animals. crooked politics”
“SIEGEL: Because our impulse is to want to see that zero balance on some loan, even if it's a relatively cheap loan that is doing us less harm than another loan.”
“If I think of something short and pithy, my first impulse is to post a simple Twitter tweet rather than do a long weblog entry.”
“Like many literary teenagers, I believed that art was a matter of instinct — that the artist's first impulse is the most authentic, that revision is something you do to essays but hardly applies to poetry or fiction.”
“Her first impulse is to push it away: I tell myself it's a bummer, that diary, a sorry trip.”
“When you're just entering the grief mode, I guess your first impulse is to stay busy.”
Grey's Anatomy's Sara Ramirez Stands Up — and Sings — for Liver Cancer
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