[ˈɪmpʌls], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a sudden strong and unreflective urge or desire to act
(e.g: I had an almost irresistible impulse to giggle)

- something that causes something to happen or happen more quickly; an impetus
(e.g: an added impulse to this process of renewal)

- a pulse of electrical energy; a brief current
(e.g: nerve impulses)

- a force acting briefly on a body and producing a finite change of momentum
(e.g: ability to communicate motion by impulse)


Phrases:
- on impulse

Origin:
early 17th century (as a verb in the sense ‘give an impulse to’): the verb from Latin impuls- ‘driven on’, the noun from impulsus ‘impulsion’, both from the verb impellere (see impel)