Adjacent Words

Tense definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TENSE, a. tens. [L. tensus, from tendo, to stretch.] Stretched; strained to stiffness; rigid; not lax; as a tense fiber.
For the free passage of the sound into the ear, it is requisite that the tympanum be tense.
TENSE, n. tens. [L. tempus.] In grammar, time, or a particular form of a verb, or a combination of words, used to express the time of action, or of that which is affirmed; or tense is an inflection of verbs by which they are made to signify or distinguish the time of actions or events.
The primary simple tenses are three; those which express time past, present, and future; but these admit of modifications, which differ in different languages. The English language is rich in tenses, beyond any other language in Europe.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: in or of a state of physical or nervous tension [ant: relaxed]
2: pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat') [ant: lax]
3: taut or rigid; stretched tight; "tense piano strings" [ant: lax] n
1: a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time v
1: become stretched or tense or taut; "the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;" "the rope strained when the weight was attached" [syn: strain, tense]
2: increase the tension on; "alternately relax and tense your calf muscle"; "tense the rope manually before tensing the spring"
3: become tense, nervous, or uneasy; "He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room" [syn: tense, tense up] [ant: decompress, loosen up, relax, slow down, unbend, unwind]
4: cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious; "he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up" [syn: tense, strain, tense up] [ant: loosen up, make relaxed, relax, unlax, unstrain, unwind]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English tens time, tense, from Anglo-French, from Latin tempus Date: 14th century 1. a distinction of form in a verb to express distinctions of time or duration of the action or state it denotes 2. a. a set of inflectional forms of a verb that express distinctions of time b. an inflectional form of a verb expressing a specific time distinction II. adjective (tenser; tensest) Etymology: Latin tensus, from past participle of tendere to stretch — more at thin Date: 1668 1. stretched tight ; made taut ; rigid <tense muscles> 2. a. feeling or showing nervous tension <a tense smile> b. marked by strain or suspense <a tense thriller> 3. produced with the muscles involved in a relatively tense state <the vowels ? and ü in contrast with the vowels i and u? are tense> • tensely adverb • tenseness noun III. verb (tensed; tensing) Date: 1676 transitive verb to make tense intransitive verb to become tense <tensed up and missed the putt>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. adj. & v. --adj. 1 stretched tight, strained (tense cord; tense muscle; tense nerves; tense emotion). 2 causing tenseness (a tense moment). 3 Phonet. pronounced with the vocal muscles tense. --v.tr. & intr. make or become tense. Phrases and idioms: tense up become tense. Derivatives: tensely adv. tenseness n. tensity n. Etymology: L tensus past part. of tendere stretch 2. n. Gram. 1 a form taken by a verb to indicate the time (also the continuance or completeness) of the action etc. (present tense; imperfect tense). 2 a set of such forms for the various persons and numbers. Derivatives: tenseless adj. Etymology: ME f. OF tens f. L tempus time

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tense Tense, a. [L. tensus, p. p. of tendere to stretch. See Tend to move, and cf. Toise.] Stretched tightly; strained to stiffness; rigid; not lax; as, a tense fiber. The temples were sunk, her forehead was tense, and a fatal paleness was upon her. --Goldsmith. -- Tense"ly, adv. -- Tense"ness, n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tense Tense, n. [OF. tens, properly, time, F. temps time, tense. See Temporal of time, and cf. Thing.] (Gram.) One of the forms which a verb takes by inflection or by adding auxiliary words, so as to indicate the time of the action or event signified; the modification which verbs undergo for the indication of time. Note: The primary simple tenses are three: those which express time past, present, and future; but these admit of modifications, which differ in different languages.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(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 • Tense up means the same as tense. 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

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Tight, stretched, strained, rigid, taught.

Moby Thesaurus

accented, agitated, all-overish, alveolar, antsy, anxious, anxioused up, aorist, apical, apico-alveolar, apico-dental, apprehensive, articulated, assimilated, back, barytone, bilabial, bothered, brace, broad, cacuminal, central, cerebral, checked, chill, chilly, chronology, close, cold, concerned, consonant, consonantal, continuant, continue, continuity, cool, dental, disaccordant, disquieted, disquieting, dissimilated, distressed, distressing, disturbed, disturbing, dorsal, drag out, dragged out, draw, draw out, drawn, drawn out, duration, durative, duree, edgy, elongate, elongated, extend, extended, fearful, fidgety, firm, flat, fluttery, foreboding, fraught, front, frosty, fussy, future, future perfect, glide, glossal, glottal, guttural, hard, haul, heave, heavy, high, high-strung, historical present, icy, imperfect, in a pucker, in a stew, in suspense, incompatible, inhospitable, inimical, intense, intonated, jittery, jumpy, keyed up, keyed-up, labial, labiodental, labiovelar, lastingness, lateral, lax, lengthen, lengthen out, lengthened, let out, light, lingual, liquid, low, mid, misgiving, monophthongal, muted, narrow, nasal, nasalized, nerve-racking, nervous, nervy, occlusive, on edge, on tenterhooks, on tiptoe, open, overanxious, overapprehensive, overexert, overextend, overstrain, overtax, overwrought, oxytone, palatal, palatalized, past, past perfect, perfect, period, perturbed, pharyngeal, pharyngealized, phonemic, phonetic, phonic, pitch, pitched, pluperfect, point tense, pokerlike, posttonic, present, present perfect, press, preterit, produce, progressive tense, prolong, prolongate, prolongated, prolonged, protract, protracted, psychological time, pull, pulled, queasy, quivering, rack, ramrodlike, reinforce, renitent, restive, restless, retroflex, rigid, rigidify, rodlike, rounded, rusty, screw up, semivowel, shore up, soft, solicitous, sonant, space, space-time, spin out, spun out, starched, starchy, stiff, stiff as buckram, stiffen, stopped, straggling, strain, strain every nerve, strained, strengthen, stress, stressed, stressful, stretch, stretch out, stretched, stretched out, stretched tight, string out, strong, strung out, surd, suspenseful, sweat blood, syllabic, taut, tauten, tax, tension, term, the future, the past, the present, thick, throaty, tide, tight, tighten, time, timebinding, tonal, tonic, trice up, troubled, tug, twangy, unaccented, unamiable, unamicable, uncordial, under a strain, uneasy, unfriendly, ungenial, unharmonious, unquiet, unrelaxed, unrestful, unrounded, unsettled, unsociable, unstressed, upset, uptight, velar, virgate, vocalic, vocoid, voiced, voiceless, vowel, vowellike, weak, while, wide, with bated breath, with muscles tense, worked up, worried, worrisome, worrying, wound up, wrought up, zealous