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Impulse   /ˈɪmpəls/  /ɪmpˈəls/   Listen
noun
Impulse  n.  
1.
The act of impelling, or driving onward with sudden force; impulsion; especially, force so communicated as to produced motion suddenly, or immediately. "All spontaneous animal motion is performed by mechanical impulse."
2.
The effect of an impelling force; motion produced by a sudden or momentary force.
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.
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. "These were my natural impulses for the undertaking."
Synonyms: Force; incentive; influence; motive; feeling; incitement; instigation.



verb
Impulse  v. t.  To impel; to incite. (Obs.)






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Impulse" Quotes from Famous Books



... long column they trailed at the end of the hawser; and the Shannon crept closer. Catspaws of wind ruffled the water, and first one ship and then the other gained a few hundred yards as upper tiers of canvas caught the faint impulse. The Shannon was a crack ship, and there was no better crew in the British navy, as Lawrence of the Chesapeake afterwards learned to his mortal sorrow. Gradually the Shannon cut down the intervening distance until she could make use ...
— The Fight for a Free Sea: A Chronicle of the War of 1812 - The Chronicles of America Series, Volume 17 • Ralph D. Paine

... her head with a first impulse of haughtiness. But when her eyes met his the head drooped down again, and a slight shiver ran through ...
— Kenelm Chillingly, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... that there was no money to buy with, David's first impulse had been to bring several of the gold-pieces the next time he came; but upon second thoughts David decided that he did not dare. He was not wishing to be called a thief a second time. It would be better, he concluded, to bring some food from ...
— Just David • Eleanor H. Porter

... a mirror in a mahogany frame. I gazed at it idly for a second, and then a sudden impulse seized me to get up and see what I looked like. I turned back the clothes and crawled out of bed. I felt shaky when I stood up, but my legs seemed to bear me all right, and very carefully I made my way ...
— A Rogue by Compulsion • Victor Bridges

... asylum was freely given, according to my information, by the naval vessels of several foreign powers and by several of the legations at Santiago. The American minister as well as his colleagues, acting upon the impulse of humanity, extended asylum to political refugees whose lives were in peril. I have not been willing to direct the surrender of such of these persons as are still in the American ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Volume IX. • Benjamin Harrison


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