# heartbeat

/ˈhɑɹtˌbit/ (US) · /hˈɑːtbiːt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/heartbeat
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. physical pulsation

noun · CEFR B1

the sound or movement of your heart as it pumps blood.

For teachers: a single pulsation of the heart; often used to refer to the rhythm or rate of cardiac activity.

- The doctor listened to the baby's heartbeat through the stethoscope.
- The athlete monitored her resting heartbeat every morning to ensure her training load was not leading to overtraining or fatigue.

### 2. vital center

noun · CEFR B2

the most important part of something that keeps it alive or active.

For teachers: the driving impulse or vital force of an organisation, place, or movement.

- Small businesses are the heartbeat of this town's economy.
- The bustling marketplace has remained the heartbeat of the city for centuries, surviving numerous political and social upheavals.

### 3. an instant

noun · CEFR B2 · Informal

a very short amount of time.

For teachers: an extremely brief interval of time; almost exclusively used in the idiomatic phrase 'in a heartbeat'.

- If I had the money, I would move to Italy in a heartbeat.
- She would have accepted the job offer in a heartbeat had it not required her to relocate across the country away from her family.

### 4. computing signal

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a regular signal sent by a computer to show it is still working correctly.

For teachers: a periodic signal generated by hardware or software to indicate normal operation or to synchronise components within a distributed system.

- The server sends a heartbeat every few seconds to let the network know it is online.
- The monitoring software triggered an alert when it failed to receive a heartbeat from the primary database for more than thirty seconds.

Usage: Usually functions as a countable noun in technical documentation.

## Examples

- The doctor listened to her steady heartbeat.
- The athlete monitored his heartbeat during the race to ensure he stayed within his target zone.
- The rhythmic heartbeat of the city is most audible in the early morning when the first delivery trucks begin their rounds through the quiet streets.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.