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What (who) is tense - definition
WIKIMEDIA DISAMBIGUATION PAGE
Tense (linguistics); Tense (disambiguation)
tense
(tenser, tensest, tenses, tensing, tensed)
1.
A tense situation or period of time is one that makes people anxious, because they do not know what is going to happen next.
This gesture of goodwill did little to improve the tense atmosphere at the talks...
After three very tense weeks he phoned again...
ADJ
2.
If you are tense, you are anxious and nervous and cannot relax.
Dart, who had at first been very tense, at last relaxed.
ADJ
• tensely
She waited tensely for the next bulletin...
ADV: usu ADV with v
• tenseness
McKay walked slowly toward this screen, feeling a growing tenseness.
N-UNCOUNT
3.
If your body is tense, your muscles are tight and not relaxed.
A bath can relax tense muscles.
ADJ
• tenseness
If you feel a tenseness around the eyes, relax your muscles.
N-UNCOUNT
4.
If your muscles tense, if you tense, or if you tense your muscles, your muscles become tight and stiff, often because you are anxious or frightened.
Newman's stomach muscles tensed...
Jane tensed her muscles to stop them from shaking.
VERB: V, V n
•
When we are under stress our bodies tend to tense up...
Tense up the muscles in both of your legs.
PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P n (not pron), also V n P
5.
The tense of a verb group is its form, which usually shows whether you are referring to past, present, or future time.
N-COUNT
tense
a.
Tight, stretched, strained, rigid, taught.
tense
tense1
¦ adjective
1. (especially of a muscle) stretched tight or rigid.
2. (of a person) unable to relax.
causing or showing anxiety and nervousness.
3. Phonetics (of a speech sound, especially a vowel) pronounced with the vocal muscles stretched tight. The opposite of lax.
¦ verb make or become tense.
Derivatives
tensely adverb
tenseness noun
tensity noun (rare).
Origin
C17: from L. tensus, tendere 'to stretch'.
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tense2
¦ noun Grammar a set of forms taken by a verb to indicate the time (and sometimes the continuance or completeness) of the action in relation to the time of the utterance.
Derivatives
tenseless adjective
Origin
ME: from OFr. tens, from L. tempus 'time'.
Examples of use of tense
1. "If I‘m tense, they‘re tense, the horses are tense." The air this morning is laced with sweet cigar smoke.
2. "It‘s tense, very tense," said Angeles Ortega–Moore, director of the Latin American Coalition in Charlotte.
3. Asked whether his use of past tense was deliberate, he said: "Yes, I did use the past tense.
4. "The relationship remained tense for several days.
5. Study the mother‘s face: exhausted, tense, unhappy.