impulse

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

I

n. thrust, push (see impulse); impromptu, improvisation (See unpreparedness).

II

Forward thrust

Nouns

1. impulse, impulsion, impetus, momentum; push, thrust, shove, jog, nudge, prod, jolt, brunt, throw; explosion (see violence); propulsion; percussion, concussion, collision, pile-up, clash, encounter, shock, crash, bump; coup; impact; charge, attack; beating, punishment.

2. blow, dint, stroke, clap, knock, tap, rap, slap, smack, pat, wallop, dab; fillip; slam, bang; hit, whack, clout, cuff, clip, punch, pasting, bump, thump, pelt, kick; cut, thrust, lunge. Informal, bat, swat, lick. Slang, sock, the old one-two, knuckle sandwich.

3. hammer, sledgehammer, maul, mallet, flail; ram, battering ram, pile driver, punch, bat; cudgel, weapon; ax.

Verbs

1. give impetus; impel, push; start, get going; drive, urge; thrust, prod; elbow, shoulder, jostle, hustle, hurtle, shove, jar, jolt; bump, run, or plow into; impinge; flounce. Slang, kick-start, jump-start.

2. strike, knock, hit, pelt, jab, clip, lambaste, larrup, wallop, tap, rap, slap, swipe, pat, thump, stub, beat, bang, slam, dash; sock, punch, whack; hitor strike hard; batter; pelt, buffet, bruise, belabor, rough up; fetch one ablow, throw a punch; poke at, lunge; kick, butt; make a pass at, take apunch, poke, or sock at, strike at, attack; whip (see punishment). Informal, swat, larrup, beat the [living] daylights out of. Slang, knock galleywest, knock off one's block, clobber, ding, hang one on, waste, deck, paste.

3. collide; fall or run foul of; throw (see propulsion).

Adjectives — impelling, impellent; dynamic, impelled.

Adverbs — impulsively, explosively, etc.

Quotations — Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful (Friedrich Nietzsche), A first impulse was never a crime (Corneille), May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are the result of previous study? (Jane Austen).

Antonyms, see thought, recoil.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [An impelling force]

Syn. push, thrust, surge, impetus, throb, vibration, pulse, pulsation, pressure, augmentation, rush, motivation, actuation, stimulus, incentive, impulsion, propulsion, stroke, momentum, shove, shock, bump, movement; see also beat 2 , incentive .

2. [A sudden urge]

Syn. fancy, whim, caprice, motive, spontaneity, drive, appeal, notion, inclination, disposition, bent, vagary, freak, wish, whimsy, inspiration, hunch, flash, thought, extemporization; see also deSire 1 , inclination 1 .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

urge, drive, instinct, itch, spur, goad, desire, feeling, whim, notion, impetus, incitement, want, wish, inclination, reflex.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. Something that causes and encourages a given response: encouragement, fillip, impetus, incentive, inducement, motivation, prod, push, spur, stimulant, stimulation, stimulator, stimulus. See CAUSE. 2. An impulsive, often illogical turn of mind: bee, boutade, caprice, conceit, fancy, freak, humor, megrim, notion, vagary, whim, whimsy. Idiom: bee in one's bonnet. See THOUGHTS.