TENSE

tense

(adjective) taut or rigid; stretched tight; “tense piano strings”

tense

(adjective) pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in ‘beat’)

tense

(adjective) in or of a state of physical or nervous tension

tense

(noun) a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time

tense, strain, tense up

(verb) cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious; “he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up”

tense, tense up

(verb) become tense, nervous, or uneasy; “He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room”

tense

(verb) increase the tension on; “alternately relax and tense your calf muscle”; “tense the rope manually before tensing the spring”

strain, tense

(verb) become stretched or tense or taut; “the bodybuilder’s neck muscles tensed”; “the rope strained when the weight was attached”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

tense (plural tenses)

(grammar, countable) Any of the forms of a verb which distinguish when an action or state of being occurs or exists.

(linguistics, grammar, countable) An inflected form of a verb that indicates tense.

(linguistics, uncountable) The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.

Usage notes

• Some English-language authorities only consider inflected forms of verbs (i.e. the present and past tenses) as tenses, and not periphrastic forms such as the simple future with will.

Verb

tense (third-person singular simple present tenses, present participle tensing, simple past and past participle tensed)

(grammar, transitive) To apply a tense to.

Etymology 2

Adjective

tense (comparative tenser, superlative tensest)

Showing signs of stress or strain; not relaxed.

Synonyms: stressed, unrelaxed

Pulled taut, without any slack.

Verb

tense (third-person singular simple present tenses, present participle tensing, simple past and past participle tensed)

To make or become tense.

Anagrams

• ESnet, Enets, NEETs, Tenes, enset, neets, seent, senet, sente, steen, teens

Source: Wiktionary

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Tense, n. Etym: [OF. tens, properly, time, F. temps time, tense. See Temporal of time, and cf. Thing.] (Gram.)

Definition: 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.

Tense, a. Etym: [L. tensus, p.p. of tendere to stretch. See Tend to move, and cf. Toise.]

Definition: 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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