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palpitate

[pal-pi-tayt] / ˈpæl pɪˌteɪt /
VERB
beat at a rapid pace, like a heart
Synonyms
Antonyms
STRONG
be still steady


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

“Seeing the hospital’s name come across caller ID, it caused my heart to palpitate a bit.”

From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2019

Walker: I mean, at first, it probably made my heart, like, palpitate, and be like, “Aw.”

From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2017

The lyrics palpitate with the pain of loss and leave-taking: “I’m 500 miles from my home”; “I’ve been all around this world”; “Fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well.”

From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2013

And although it made her heart palpitate temporarily, the remote danger of a heart attack seemed more bearable than losing her hearing.

From Nature ● Oct. 9, 2013

Damp with condensation, the brick walls appeared to palpitate in the lantern light, thrumming with the resounding force of the steam-powered engines and machinery in the rooms above.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

While he’s on the run, Sid’s mind palpitates with dread.

From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2016

This is the first test of a new high-intensity underwater blue light source, and my heart palpitates in anticipation.

From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2012

The tender surface of Rodin's burnished bronze palpitates with life; Brancusi's pitted limestone is all idea.

From Time Magazine Archive

His heart palpitates; his limbs are weak; he cannot digest his food; he sweats easily; he gets out of breath.

From Time Magazine Archive

The social atmosphere palpitates with enthusiastic resolve and abounds in noble endeavor.

From The Super Race: An American Problem by Scott Nearing

Mine, by contrast, palpitated so furiously that I braced myself for cardiac arrest.

From The New Yorker ● Feb. 4, 2019

No country has kept The Club busier or given it more nightmares than Britain, whose economy has palpitated in maddeningly regular intervals through a dozen sterling crises in 18 years.

From Time Magazine Archive

Betjeman's quatrains palpitated with cliches and such treacly rhymes as people/steeple, dutiful/beautiful and blue/true.

From Time Magazine Archive

My heart palpitated in the sickness of fear, and I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me:

From "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

After some moments of waiting in the midst of this familiar scene, the rainbow path into her room palpitated with fresh, living light.

From Istar of Babylon A Phantasy by Margaret Horton Potter

“I’m sweating and my heart’s palpitating and all those things because I’m conditioned to be in that environment and go perform,” Baldwin said.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2022

“The crowd went berserk. Just for the occasion, we brought in EMTs who were standing by in case someone's heart started palpitating a little bit too quickly.”

From Fox News ● Jan. 29, 2020

Just 17 days before the announcement, he quarterbacked Clemson in a palpitating 28-26 escape from Texas A&M, then appeared on TV as a smiling face of Clemson.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 26, 2018

There she would watch the ceiling till mid-afternoon, her heart palpitating with exhaustion, when she would leave for the school pickup.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 14, 2018

His eyes and nostrils were running, and his palpitating crimson lower lip was splattered with a foamy dew.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller


Vocabulary lists containing palpitate

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