Dictionary

palpitate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈpælpɪteɪt/

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin palpitō, palpitātus (“throb, pulsate, palpitate”).

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To beat strongly or rapidly; said especially of the heart.
   • When he just looks at me, my heart begins to palpitate with excitement.
2. (transitive) To cause to beat strongly or rapidly.
   • The allergy medicine palpitates my heart.
3. (intransitive) To shake tremulously
   • I was now so bruised, so batter'd, so spent with this over-match, that I could hardly stir, or raise myself, but lay palpitating 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:
   • “Two or three months more went by ; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest.[…]” 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

Forms

Deriveds

palpitant · palpitation

Synonyms

pound (to beat rapidly) · throb (to beat rapidly) · thump (to beat rapidly) · tremble (to shake tremulously) · quiver (to shake tremulously) · vibrate (to shake tremulously) · flutter (to beat rapidly)

Translations (20)

mi kakapa (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · mi whētuki (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · kea palpita (to shake tremulously) · cmn 顫抖 /颤抖 (to shake tremulously) · bg бия (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · mi huahuaki (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · fi täristä (to shake tremulously) · fi tykyttää (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · fi hytistä (to shake tremulously) · bg пулсирам (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · cmn 悸動 /悸动 (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · fi hakata (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · mi hotohoto (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · kea palpita (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · bg треперя (to shake tremulously) · fi jyskyttää (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · fi aiheuttaa tykytystä (to cause to beat strongly or rapidly) · mi kapakapatū (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · mi moko(w)hiti (of the heart: to beat strongly or rapidly) · fi väristä (to shake tremulously)