Impulse
['ɪmpʌls]
Definition
(noun.) the act of applying force suddenly; 'the impulse knocked him over'.
Editor: Upton--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The act of impelling, or driving onward with sudden force; impulsion; especially, force so communicated as to produced motion suddenly, or immediately.
(n.) The effect of an impelling force; motion produced by a sudden or momentary force.
(n.) 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.
(n.) 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.
(v. t.) To impel; to incite.
Typist: Mag
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Thrust, push, impelling force.[2]. Passion, instinct, sudden thought.[3]. Incitement, instigation, motive, influence.
Checker: Willa
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Incentive, push, incitement, force, influence, instigation, feeling,sudden_thought, motive
ANT:Rebuff, repulse, premeditation, deliberation,[See INCENTIVE]
Edited by Laurence
Definition
n. the act of impelling: effect of an impelling force: force suddenly communicated: influence on the mind.—n. Impul′sion impelling force: instigation.—adj. Impuls′ive having the power of impelling: actuated by mental impulse: (mech.) acting by impulse: not continuous.—adv. Impuls′ively.—n. Impuls′iveness.
Edited by Griffith
Examples
- The performance over, Selden's first impulse was to seek Miss Bart. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- The impulse under which I acted, the mood controlling me, were similar to the impulse and the mood which had induced me to visit the confessional. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- But a human impulse is more important than any existing theory. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- But just as my first impulse had been to pity her, so was his. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- I felt nothing but the natural human impulse to save him from a frightful death. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- A sudden impulse came over him to enter, and see if they were indeed the proofs. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- In this case, his original impulse is modified. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- She had not rummaged her drawers for a month past, and the impulse to perform that operation was now become resistless. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The action and reaction thus constantly at work, tend to give accelerating impulse to invention, and are continually enlarging its sphere of operations. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- But, this impulse yielded to, I speedily put her out of the classe, for, upon that poignant strain, she wept more bitterly than ever. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Meyler possesses a good understanding when one can give him a fortnight to consider things; but whenever impulse is required he is of no use on earth. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- The passion of vanity is so prompt, that it rouzes at the least call; while humility requires a stronger impulse to make it exert itself. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- The first tremendous impulse of Islam was now spent. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I knew that I was preparing for myself a deadly torture; but I was the slave, not the master of an impulse, which I detested, yet could not disobey. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- Motion in one body in all past instances, that have fallen under our observation, is followed upon impulse by motion in another. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- Real life is beyond his control and influence because real life is largely agitated by impulses and habits, unconscious needs, faith, hope and desire. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- But she recognised too well, in her spirit, the mockery of her own impulses. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- This arose from the fact that, on account of the rapid succession of the electric impulses, there was not sufficient time between them for the electric action to cease entirely. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- If Machiavelli is a symbol of the political theorist making reason an instrument of purpose, we may take Sorel as a self-conscious representative of the impulses which generate purpose. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- To speak plainly, the electric impulses correspond in form and character to the sound vibration which they represent. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Can't I even have human impulses? Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Some of his impulses are particularly good, I assure you. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- We had shaken hands; he had turned to gobut he was not satisfied: he had not done or said enough to content his generous impulses. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- All her eagerness for acquirement lay within that full current of sympathetic motive in which her ideas and impulses were habitually swept along. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Politics would be like education--an effort to develop, train and nurture men's impulses. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- She knew that Mr. Gryce was of the small chary type most inaccessible to impulses and emotions. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Paul, who was unused to him and his impulses, would naturally have bungled at this offer--declined accepting the same--et cetera. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Ah, but I don't suppose that: haven't I told you that your genius lies in converting impulses into intentions? Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- The more the educator knows of music the more he can perceive the possibilities of the inchoate musical impulses of a child. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Rosamond had delivered her soul under impulses which she had not known before. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
Typed by Helga