'Tense' definitions:
Definition of 'tense'
From: WordNet
adjective
In or of a state of physical or nervous tension [ant: relaxed]
adjective
Pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat') [ant: lax]
adjective
Taut or rigid; stretched tight; "tense piano strings" [ant: lax]
noun
A grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
verb
Become stretched or tense or taut; "the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;" "the rope strained when the weight was attached" [syn: strain, tense]
verb
Increase the tension on; "alternately relax and tense your calf muscle"; "tense the rope manually before tensing the spring"
verb
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]
verb
Definition of 'Tense'
From: GCIDE
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Tense'
From: GCIDE
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- The temples were sunk, her forehead was tense, and a fatal paleness was upon her. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster] -- {Tense"ly}, adv. -- {Tense"ness}, n. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'tense'
From: 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
Words containing 'Tense'
- Tensed,
- Tensely,
- Tenseness,
- tense up,
- Future tense,
- Imperfect tense,
- Perfect tense,
- Present tense,
- Tensed, ID,
- continuous tense,
- past tense,
- perfective tense,
- pluperfect tense,
- progressive tense,
- tense system,
- future perfect tense,
- future progressive tense,
- past perfect tense,
- past progressive tense,
- present perfect tense,
- present progressive tense