have one's finger on the pulse

Alternative forms

 * have (one's) fingers on the pulse

Verb

 * 1) To understand (something) well.
 * The marketing firm I use has its finger on the consumers' pulse.
 * He has his finger on the pulse of his company, and thinks he needs to hire a few more people in sales and get rid of a few from research and development.

Usage notes

 * As in the example sentences given above, this is often used as either or as.
 * The object is generally an organization, a demographic, or some other group of people.

Translations

 * French:
 * Italian: sentire il polso