Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Pulsate for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "Pulsate" — verb, pronounced /pʌlˈseɪt/, with the stress on "sate".
Narrator: To pulsate is to expand and contract, or beat, with a strong regular rhythm.
Narrator: In plain English, it means to throb.
Narrator: It comes from the Latin pulsare, to push or beat.
Narrator: A common collocation is "pulsating music", which describes music with a driving beat.
Narrator: It differs from "vibrate", because vibrating is fast and tiny, while pulsating is a slower, rhythmic swell.
Narrator: In a second sense, a place can pulsate with energy, meaning it feels lively and exciting.
Narrator: Medicine, music, astronomy and lighting design all rely on the word.
Narrator: So remember: to pulsate is to throb in rhythm.
Speaker A: How would you describe that nightclub?
Speaker B: It was PULSATING! It comes from the Latin pulsare, to beat.
Speaker A: Because of the bass?
Speaker B: Yes, and the flashing lights.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "The lights pulsated to the music", a party scene. "Her temples pulsated with pain", a headache. "The city pulsates with life", a travel line.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Stress the second syllable, "pul-SATE", and do not write "pulsates with" as "pulsates of".
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Throb is its cousin, pulse its twin, and beat an alternative — yet pulsate keeps its rhythmic charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "pulsate" in AI prompts — useful for UI animation and event copy.
Speaker A: How for UI animation?
Speaker B: Specify the effect.
Prompt: Write CSS for a notification dot that gently pulsates every two seconds.
Speaker A: And event copy?
Speaker B: Capture the energy.
Prompt: Write a two-sentence festival description where the crowd pulsates with excitement.
Speaker A: Could it help accessibility?
Speaker B: Yes, by limiting motion.
Prompt: Suggest a reduced-motion alternative for a pulsating call-to-action button.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: A music visualiser.
Prompt: Generate JavaScript that makes a circle pulsate in time with the audio volume.
Pulsate — meaning in Arabic & definition More P courses GL Dictionary