One way to picture it: a single sharp push from behind. Not a steady wind, not a plan — one shove that arrives and moves you before you have decided anything. Everything this word means comes back to that one push travelling through something.
From the word’s history
From Latin impulsus, the past participle of impellere 'to push against, drive forward' (in- 'against, into' + pellere 'to push, drive'). The same root sits inside impel, propel and compel — all of them are pushing words.
來自拉丁文 impulsus，是 impellere（往前推、驅使）的過去分詞：in-（向、往裡）＋ pellere（推、驅趕）。同一個 pellere 也藏在 impel（驅使）、propel（推進）、compel（迫使）裡——這一整家子都是「推」的字。知道這件事之後，impulse 三個意思就不用分開背了：它們共用同一下推力。
Wiktionary, 'impulse' / 'impel' (from Latin impulsus, past participle of impellere, from in- + pellere 'to push, drive')
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
impulsenoun/ˈɪmpʌls/
- 1
A thrust; a push; a sudden force that impels.
- c. 1715-1716, Samuel Clarke, letter to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz All spontaneous animal motion is performed by mechanical impulse.
- 2
A wish or urge, particularly a sudden one prompting action.
- The impulse to learn drove me to study night and day.
- When I saw the new book, I couldn't resist the impulse to browse through it.
- 3
natural-sciencesphysical-sciencesphysicsThe integral of force over time.
- The total impulse from the impact will depend on the kinetic energy of the projectile.
impulseverb/ˈɪmpʌls/
- 1
To impel; to incite.
- With that force so impulsed and prest they are carried under the deepe Ocean.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。