impulse

/ˈim-ˌpəls/

Latin impulsus, from impellere to impel

noun

  1. a sudden spontaneous inclination or incitement to some usually unpremeditated action

  2. a propensity or natural tendency usually other than rational

  3. a wave of excitation transmitted through tissues and especially nerve fibers and muscles that results in physiological activity or inhibition

motive impulse incentive inducement spur goad mean a stimulus to action. motive implies an emotion or desire operating on the will and causing it to act. impulse suggests a driving power arising from personal temperament or constitution.

verb

  1. to give an impulse to

noun

  1. the progressive physicochemical change in the membrane of a nerve fiber that follows stimulation and serves to transmit a record of sensation from a receptor or an instruction to act to an effector —called also nervous impulse