im|pulse

im|pulse «IHM puhls», noun.

1. a sudden, driving force or influence; thrust; push: »

the impulse of a wave, the impulse of curiosity. the impulse of hunger compelled the proud man to go begging for food.

SYNONYM(S): impetus, drive.

2. the effect of a sudden, driving force or influence.

3. Figurative. a sudden inclination or tendency to act: »

He quickly and clumsily, on an impulse, kissed her (James T. Farrell). Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful (Friedrich Nietzsche).

4. Figurative. a suggestion; instigation: »

He was not a man…to yield timidly to the impulses of others (William Prescott).

5. Figurative. the stimulating force of desire or emotion: »

An angry person is influenced more by impulse than by reason.

6. a message or stimulus transmitted by nerve cells along nerve fibers, influencing action in the muscle, gland, or nerve cells that it reaches.

7. Mechanics. the product obtained by multiplying value of force by the time during which it acts.

8. a surge of electrical current in one direction: »

These impulses were recorded previously from actual signals transmitted from the control machine (Wall Street Journal).

╂[< Latin impulsus, -ūs < impellere impel]