PULSATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pulsate mean? 

• PULSATE (verb)
  The verb PULSATE has 3 senses:

1. expand and contract rhythmically; beat rhythmically

2. move with or as if with a regular alternating motion

3. produce or modulate (as electromagnetic waves) in the form of short bursts or pulses or cause an apparatus to produce pulses

  Familiarity information: PULSATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PULSATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they pulsate    ... he / she / it pulsates   
Past simple: pulsated   
Past participle: pulsated   
-ing form: pulsating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Expand and contract rhythmically; beat rhythmically

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

pulsate; pulse; throb

Context example:

The baby's heart was pulsating again after the surgeon massaged it

Hypernyms (to "pulsate" is one way to...):

beat; pound; thump (move rhythmically)

Verb group:

beat; pulsate; quiver (move with or as if with a regular alternating motion)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

The crowds pulsate in the streets
The streets pulsate with crowds

Derivation:

pulsation; pulse (the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart)

pulse (the rate at which the heart beats; usually measured to obtain a quick evaluation of a person's health)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move with or as if with a regular alternating motion

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

beat; pulsate; quiver

Context example:

the city pulsated with music and excitement

Hypernyms (to "pulsate" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Verb group:

pulsate; pulse; throb (expand and contract rhythmically; beat rhythmically)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Produce or modulate (as electromagnetic waves) in the form of short bursts or pulses or cause an apparatus to produce pulses

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

pulsate; pulse

Context example:

a transmitter pulsed by an electronic tube

Hypernyms (to "pulsate" is one way to...):

create; make; produce (create or manufacture a man-made product)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

pulsation; pulse ((electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients))

 Context examples 

Burning their fuel quickly, those pulsating stars that live fast and die young are 100,000 times brighter than the Sun.

(Scientists Say Milky Way Is Warped & Twisted Not Flat, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The light from it had beat upon his sealed lids, and the eyes and the optic nerves had pulsated to little, sparklike flashes, warm-coloured and strangely pleasing.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

There were four newly hatched chicks, a day old—little specks of pulsating life no more than a mouthful; and he ate them ravenously, thrusting them alive into his mouth and crunching them like egg-shells between his teeth.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)