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Compulsory vs Impulse - What's the difference?

compulsory | impulse |

As nouns the difference between compulsory and impulse

is that compulsory is something that is compulsory or required while impulse is .

As an adjective compulsory

is required; obligatory; mandatory.

compulsory

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Required; obligatory; mandatory.
  • * 1827 , A. D. Jr., Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal , A. and C. Black, page 212:
  • They are entirely private concerns, established by individual teachers, and attendance upon them is no more compulsory than attendance on our dispensaries.
  • * 1996 , (Ugo Pagano), Democracy and Efficiency in the Economic Enterprise , page 73:
  • Some might agree that membership in the firm is perhaps more compulsory than membership in a municipality, but balk at applying the analogy to the nation.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Finland spreads word on schools , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}
  • Having the power of compulsion; constraining.
  • Synonyms

    * mandatory

    Antonyms

    * (required) optional

    Noun

    (compulsories)
  • Something that is compulsory or required.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2008, date=March 22, author=The Associated Press, title=French Victory in Ice Dance, work=New York Times citation
  • , passage=Delobel and Schoenfelder failed to win the free dance, but they had built a big lead in the compulsories and the original dance. }}

    impulse

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A thrust; a push; a sudden force that impels.
  • * S. Clarke
  • All spontaneous animal motion is performed by mechanical impulse .
  • A wish or urge, particularly a sudden one prompting action.
  • The impulse to learn drove me to study night and day.
    When I saw the new dictionary, I couldn't resist the impulse to browse through it.
  • * Dryden
  • These were my natural impulses for the undertaking.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1907, author=
  • , title=The Dust of Conflict , chapter=20 citation , passage=Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse , but it may have been a momentary one,
  • (physics) The integral of force over time.
  • The total impulse from the impact will depend on the kinetic energy of the bullet.

    Derived terms

    * impulse buy * nerve impulse * on impulse

    References

    * * * [ impulse in the Online Etymology Dictionary]

    Verb

    (impuls)
  • (obsolete) To impel; to incite.
  • (Alexander Pope)
    ----