| tense | | |
| n. (communication) | 1. tense | a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time. |
| ~ grammatical category, syntactic category | (grammar) a category of words having the same grammatical properties. |
| ~ present tense, present | a verb tense that expresses actions or states at the time of speaking. |
| ~ aorist | a verb tense in some languages (classical Greek and Sanskrit) expressing action (especially past action) without indicating its completion or continuation. |
| ~ past tense, past | a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past. |
| ~ future tense, future | a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the future. |
| ~ continuous tense, imperfect, imperfect tense, progressive, progressive tense | a tense of verbs used in describing action that is on-going. |
| ~ perfect, perfect tense, perfective, perfective tense | a tense of verbs used in describing action that has been completed (sometimes regarded as perfective aspect). |
| v. (contact) | 2. strain, tense | become stretched or tense or taut.; "the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;"; "the rope strained when the weight was attached" |
| ~ tighten | become tight or tighter.; "The rope tightened" |
| v. (change) | 3. tense | increase the tension on.; "alternately relax and tense your calf muscle"; "tense the rope manually before tensing the spring" |
| ~ alter, change, modify | cause to change; make different; cause a transformation.; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" |
| v. (body) | 4. tense, tense up | become tense, nervous, or uneasy.; "He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room" |
| ~ change state, turn | undergo a transformation or a change of position or action.; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election" |
| v. (body) | 5. strain, tense, tense up | cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious.; "he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up" |
| ~ affect | act physically on; have an effect upon.; "the medicine affects my heart rate" |
| ~ tense up, tense | become tense, nervous, or uneasy.; "He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room" |
| ~ stretch, extend | extend one's limbs or muscles, or the entire body.; "Stretch your legs!"; "Extend your right arm above your head" |
| adj. | 6. tense | in or of a state of physical or nervous tension. |
| ~ agitated | troubled emotionally and usually deeply.; "agitated parents" |
| ~ uneasy | lacking a sense of security or affording no ease or reassurance.; "farmers were uneasy until rain finally came"; "uneasy about his health"; "gave an uneasy laugh"; "uneasy lies the head that wears the crown"; "an uneasy coalition government"; "an uneasy calm"; "an uneasy silence fell on the group" |
| ~ wound up, aroused | brought to a state of great tension.; "all wound up for a fight" |
| ~ cliff-hanging, nail-biting, suspenseful, suspensive | (of a situation) characterized by or causing suspense. |
| ~ taut | subjected to great tension; stretched tight.; "the skin of his face looked drawn and tight"; "her nerves were taut as the strings of a bow" |
| ~ antsy, fidgety, fretful, itchy | nervous and unable to relax.; "a constant fretful stamping of hooves"; "a restless child" |
| ~ edgy, high-strung, highly strung, jumpy, nervy, overstrung, restive, uptight, jittery | being in a tense state. |
| ~ electric | (of a situation) exceptionally tense.; "an atmosphere electric with suspicion" |
| ~ isotonic | of two or more muscles; having equal tension. |
| ~ nervous | easily agitated.; "a nervous addict"; "a nervous thoroughbred" |
| ~ strained | showing signs of mental and emotional tension.; "her voice was strained as she asked the question" |
| ~ unrelaxed | nor relaxed.; "his life was drawing to a close in baffled zeal and unrelaxed strain" |
| ~ pumped, pumped-up, pumped up, wired | tense with excitement and enthusiasm as from a rush of adrenaline.; "we were really pumped up for the race"; "he was so pumped he couldn't sleep" |
| adj. | 7. tense | pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat'). |
| ~ phonetics | the branch of acoustics concerned with speech processes including its production and perception and acoustic analysis. |
| ~ constricted | especially tense; especially in some dialects. |
| adj. | 8. tense | taut or rigid; stretched tight.; "tense piano strings" |
| ~ tight | closely constrained or constricted or constricting.; "tight skirts"; "he hated tight starched collars"; "fingers closed in a tight fist"; "a tight feeling in his chest" |
| ~ overstrung | too tightly strung.; "an overstrung archery bow" |
| ~ taut, tight | pulled or drawn tight.; "taut sails"; "a tight drumhead"; "a tight rope" |
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