as in pulse
a rhythmic expanding and contracting
you should press against the artery in your wrist and count the pulsations to calculate your heart rate
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Recent Examples of pulsation
The silvered soleil face shows black subdials and an outer bright blue pulsations scale calibrated for 15 pulsations.
—
Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2025
However, an alternative explanation for the rings could be a series of pulsations within the dying star that take place every few thousand years.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 30 July 2025
To gauge whether the blood vessel pulsations propel glymphatic flow, the researchers stimulated the area of the mouse brain that produces the neurotransmitter, artificially speeding up the pulses from every 50 seconds to every 10.
—Bymitch Leslie, science.org, 8 Jan. 2025
Anyone could see its pulsation in the swelling and ebbing cluster of people who took minutes or hours from a crowded day, who missed meals and forwent their customary amusements to keep a chilly vigil with a mother duck who was bringing forth her young.
—Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for pulsation
Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2025
However, an alternative explanation for the rings could be a series of pulsations within the dying star that take place every few thousand years.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 30 July 2025
To gauge whether the blood vessel pulsations propel glymphatic flow, the researchers stimulated the area of the mouse brain that produces the neurotransmitter, artificially speeding up the pulses from every 50 seconds to every 10.
—Bymitch Leslie, science.org, 8 Jan. 2025
Anyone could see its pulsation in the swelling and ebbing cluster of people who took minutes or hours from a crowded day, who missed meals and forwent their customary amusements to keep a chilly vigil with a mother duck who was bringing forth her young.
—Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for pulsation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pulsation
Noun
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These features cannot be made by a single star that pulses and ejects material periodically; that would simply lead to a smooth distribution of matter.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
11 Feb. 2026
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In turn, researchers can use these rhythmic pulses to reveal tiny changes in spacetime and detect gravitational waves caused by large, massive objects—including supermassive black holes.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Maybe this nonstop back-and-forth, this spiritual reverb, this throb-throb oscillation between the actual and the symbolic, the objective and the imagined, is the heartbeat of Moby-Dick.—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
27 Jan. 2026
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Puerto Morelos Located between the dizzying throbs of Cancun and Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos has managed to cling to its fishing village charm.—
Gemma Price,
Travel + Leisure,
11 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pulsation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pulsation. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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