1
a
: a sudden spontaneous inclination or incitement to some usually unpremeditated action
b
: a propensity or natural tendency usually other than rational
2
a
: a wave of excitation transmitted through tissues and especially nerve fibers and muscles that results in physiological activity or inhibition see nerve impulse
b
: the act of driving onward with sudden force : impulsion
3
a
b
: the product of the average value of a force and the time during which it acts : the change in momentum produced by the force
4
impulsed; impulsing
: to give an impulse to
Examples of impulse in a Sentence
Noun
He has to learn to control his impulses.
the new auto factory was just the impulse that the local economy needed
Recent Examples on the Web
Colleen Hamilton, Them., 30 Oct. 2025
But the Dionysian impulse — the wild, ecstatic, creative urge — is the source of all vitality.
—Big Think, 29 Oct. 2025
Will Heinrich, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2025
The Life of Chuck, his third King adaptation, services that impulse.
—Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for impulse
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Noun
The impulse to gather, protect, and educate one another has only grown stronger.
—Colleen Hamilton, Them., 30 Oct. 2025
But the Dionysian impulse — the wild, ecstatic, creative urge — is the source of all vitality.
—Big Think, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
And there’s an undeniable charge in scaling that impulse up so dramatically, in putting this nearly 26-foot-tall Black man, rendered as an expansive, poetic monument, in the middle of a major art gallery.
—Will Heinrich, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2025
The Life of Chuck, his third King adaptation, services that impulse.
—Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for impulse
Cite this Entry
“Impulse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impulse. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
impulse
noun
im·pulse
ˈim-ˌpəls 
1
: a wave of excitation transmitted through tissues and especially nerve fibers and muscles that results in physiological activity or inhibition
2
a
: a sudden spontaneous inclination or incitement to some usually unpremeditated action
some uncontrollable impulse … may have driven the defendant to the commission of the murderous act—B. N. Cardozo
B. N. Cardozo
b
: a propensity or natural tendency usually other than rational
the fundamental impulse of self-expression—Havelock Ellis
Havelock EllisLove words? Need even more definitions?
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