Search Result for "impulse": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (6)

1. an instinctive motive;
- Example: "profound religious impulses"
[syn: urge, impulse]

2. a sudden desire;
- Example: "he bought it on an impulse"
[syn: caprice, impulse, whim]

3. the electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber;
- Example: "they demonstrated the transmission of impulses from the cortex to the hypothalamus"
[syn: nerve impulse, nervous impulse, neural impulse, impulse]

4. (electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients);
- Example: "the pulsations seemed to be coming from a star"
[syn: pulsation, pulsing, pulse, impulse]

5. the act of applying force suddenly;
- Example: "the impulse knocked him over"
[syn: impulse, impulsion, impetus]

6. an impelling force or strength;
- Example: "the car's momentum carried it off the road"
[syn: momentum, impulse]



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Impulse \Im*pulse"\, v. t. [See Impel.]
   To impel; to incite. [Obs.] --Pope.
   [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Impulse \Im"pulse\, n. [L. impulsus, fr. impellere. See
   Impel.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. The act of impelling, or driving onward with sudden force;
      impulsion; especially, force so communicated as to
      produced motion suddenly, or immediately.
      [1913 Webster]

            All spontaneous animal motion is performed by
            mechanical impulse.                   --S. Clarke.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The effect of an impelling force; motion produced by a
      sudden or momentary force.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Mech.) The action of a force during a very small interval
      of time; the effect of such action; as, the impulse of a
      sudden blow upon a hard elastic body.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A mental force which simply and directly urges to action;
      hasty inclination; sudden motive; momentary or transient
      influence of appetite or passion; propension; incitement;
      as, a man of good impulses; passion often gives a violent
      impulse to the will; to buy something on impulse.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

            These were my natural impulses for the undertaking.
                                                  --Dryden.

   Syn: Force; incentive; influence; motive; feeling;
        incitement; instigation.
        [1913 Webster]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

impulse
    n 1: an instinctive motive; "profound religious impulses" [syn:
         urge, impulse]
    2: a sudden desire; "he bought it on an impulse" [syn:
       caprice, impulse, whim]
    3: the electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber;
       "they demonstrated the transmission of impulses from the
       cortex to the hypothalamus" [syn: nerve impulse, nervous
       impulse, neural impulse, impulse]
    4: (electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical
       state (or a series of such transients); "the pulsations
       seemed to be coming from a star" [syn: pulsation,
       pulsing, pulse, impulse]
    5: the act of applying force suddenly; "the impulse knocked him
       over" [syn: impulse, impulsion, impetus]
    6: an impelling force or strength; "the car's momentum carried
       it off the road" [syn: momentum, impulse]