Palpitate

//ˈpælpɪteɪt// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To beat strongly or rapidly; said especially of the heart. intransitive

    "When he just looks at me, my heart begins to palpitate with excitement."

  2. 2
    beat rapidly wordnet
  3. 3
    To cause to beat strongly or rapidly. transitive

    "The allergy medicine palpitates my heart."

  4. 4
    shake with fast, tremulous movements wordnet
  5. 5
    To shake tremulously intransitive

    "I was now so bruised, so batter'd, so spent with this over-match, that I could hardly stir, or raise myself, but lay palpitating"

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    cause to throb or beat rapidly wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
quiverflutterflutterquiverbeatbeat a ruffle

Example

More examples

"When he just looks at me, my heart begins to palpitate with excitement."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin palpitō, palpitātus (“throb, pulsate, palpitate”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.