Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Impulse

Impulse , noun

[Latin impulsus, from impellere. See Impel.]

1.
The act of impelling, or driving onward with sudden force; impulsion; especially, force so communicated as to produced motion suddenly, or immediately.
All spontaneous animal motion is performed by mechanical impulse. — S. Clarke
2.
The effect of an impelling force; motion produced by a sudden or momentary force.
3.
(Mechanics) The action of a force during a very small interval of time; the effect of such action; as, the impulse of a sudden blow upon a hard elastic body.
4.
A mental force which simply and directly urges to action; hasty inclination; sudden motive; momentary or transient influence of appetite or passion; propension; incitement; as, a man of good impulses; passion often gives a violent impulse to the will; to buy something on impulse.
These were my natural impulses for the undertaking. — Dryden

Impulse , transitive verb

[See Impel.]

To impel; to incite. [Obsolete] — Pope