impulse

nouns

an instinctive motive
"profound religious impulses"
impulse, urge
a sudden desire
"he bought it on an impulse"
caprice, impulse, whim
the electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber
"they demonstrated the transmission of impulses from the cortex to the hypothalamus"
impulse, nerve impulse, nervous impulse, neural impulse
(electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)
"the pulsations seemed to be coming from a star"
impulse, pulsation, pulse, pulsing
the act of applying force suddenly
"the impulse knocked him over"
impetus, impulse, impulsion
an impelling force or strength
"the car's momentum carried it off the road"
impulse, momentum