noun A single pulse of the heart, or the steady rhythm of the heart pumping.
- The nurse checked the baby's heartbeat with a small handheld monitor.
- You could hear his heartbeat quicken as he waited for the results.
- After the long run, she rested and felt her heartbeat slowly settle down.
noun A very brief moment in time.
- In a heartbeat, the whole plan fell apart.
- The kitten was gone in a heartbeat when it heard the vacuum cleaner.
- I would say yes in a heartbeat if they offered me that job.
noun A repeating signal sent by a computer system to show it is still running properly.
- The server sends a heartbeat every ten seconds so the monitoring tool knows it hasn't crashed.
- If the heartbeat stops arriving, the system automatically sends an alert to the engineers.
- Each node in the cluster emits a heartbeat so the others know it is still online.
