Pulsate
verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 To expand and contract rhythmically; to throb or to beat, exhibit a pulse. intransitive
- 2 produce or modulate (as electromagnetic waves) in the form of short bursts or pulses or cause an apparatus to produce pulses wordnet
- 3 To quiver, vibrate, or flash; as to the beat of music. intransitive
"The party pulsated with revellers."
- 4 expand and contract rhythmically; beat rhythmically wordnet
- 5 To pulse, to be full of life, energy: to bustle, thrive, flourish. figuratively, intransitive
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- 6 move with or as if with a regular alternating motion wordnet
- 7 To produce a recurring increase and decrease of some quantity. transitive
Example
More examples"Men will always tremble at the thought of the hidden and fathomless worlds of strange life which may pulsate in the gulfs beyond the stars."
Etymology
Perhaps formed within English as a back-formation from pulsation (attested from the early 15th century, in Middle English). A figurative derivation from New Latin pulsō, pulsātum (“(of an organ) to pulse, to emit a pulse”, intransitive) is also possible, itself a back-formation of New Latin pulsātiō (“pulsation”, 14th century), or derived from classical Latin pulsō (“to strike repeatedly”, transitive) with semantic influence from classical pulsus (“a pulse”). Ultimately from Latin pellō (“to strike”). By surface analysis, pulse + -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of push.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.