the influence of a particular feeling, mental state, etc.: to act under a generous impulse; to strike out at someone from an angry impulse.
sudden, involuntary inclination prompting to action:to be swayed by impulse.
an instance of this.
a psychic drive or instinctual urge.
an impelling action or force, driving onward or inducing motion.
the effect of an impelling force; motion induced; impetus given.
Physiology. a progressive wave of excitation over a nerve or muscle fiber, having either a stimulating or inhibitory effect.
Mechanics. the product of the average force acting upon a body and the time during which it acts, equivalent to the change in the momentum of the body produced by such a force.
Electricity. a single, usually sudden, flow of current in one direction.
adjective
marked by or acting on impulse: an impulse buyer.
bought or acquired on impulse: To reduce expenses, shun impulse items when shopping.
Origin of impulse
1640–50; <Latin impulsus pressure, impulse, equivalent to im-im-1 + pul- (variant stem of pellere to push) + -sus, variant of -tus suffix of v. action
Not long after, renowned American philosopher William James wrote in his essay “The Moral Equivalent of War” that Americans should redirect their combative impulses away from their fellow humans and onto “Nature.”
They Know How to Prevent Megafires. Why Won’t Anybody Listen?|by Elizabeth Weil|August 28, 2020|ProPublica
The impulse to help is wonderful—so make sure you put it to good use.
Hurricane Laura is the strongest storm to hit Louisiana in more than a century|Sara Chodosh|August 28, 2020|Popular Science
Sometimes that means putting a lid on harmful impulses and urges that arise from the limbic area.
Explainer: What is puberty?|Esther Landhuis|August 27, 2020|Science News For Students
On each site, people moved by the very human impulse to care about vulnerable children began repeating what they saw to their friends and followers.
Evangelicals are looking for answers online. They’re finding QAnon instead.|Abby Ohlheiser|August 26, 2020|MIT Technology Review
If we hope to live in a society that is better than its worst impulses, we must use this awful moment to drive and accelerate positive change.
A sudden flow of electrical current in one direction.
An electrical signal traveling along the axon of a neuron. Nerve impulses excite or inhibit activity in other neurons or in the tissues of the body, such as muscles and glands.
The change of momentum of a body or physical system over a time interval in classical mechanics, equal to the force applied times the length of the time interval over which it is applied.