1. An instinctive motive
   "profound religious impulses";
   - urge
    
2. A sudden desire
   "he bought it on an impulse";
   - caprice, whim, impulsion
    
3. The act of applying force suddenly
   "the impulse knocked him over";
   - impetus
    
4. The electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fibre
   "they demonstrated the transmission of impulses from the cortex to the hypothalamus"; "The nerve impulse quickly transmitted the sensation of pain from the finger to the brain"; "The neural impulse quickly transmitted the sensation of pain from the finger to the brain";
   - nerve impulse, nervous impulse, neural impulse
    
5. (electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)
   "The oscilloscope displayed the electrical impulse clearly";
   - pulsation, pulsing, pulse
    
6. (physics) the change in momentum of an object resulting from a force acting over a period of time
   "The impulse of the collision changed the object's velocity"

Derived forms: impulses

Type of: desire, drive, driving force, electrical discharge, motivation, motive, thrust, undulation, wave

Encyclopedia: Impulse