American English pronunciation
How to pronounce tense
IPA transcription: ['tɛns]
Hear “tense” pronounced
['tɛns]
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['tɛns]
Quality: 1.00
['tɛns]
Quality: 1.00
Noun
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a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
Verb
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cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious
“he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up”
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become stretched or tense or taut
“the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;”
“the rope strained when the weight was attached”
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increase the tension on
“alternately relax and tense your calf muscle”
“tense the rope manually before tensing the spring”
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become tense, nervous, or uneasy
“He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room”
Adjective
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in or of a state of physical or nervous tension
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pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat')
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taut or rigid; stretched tight
“tense piano strings”
Usage examples
- Everything grew very intense.
- He was tense and upset, because he knew that the old man was right.
- Their suffering is intense, widespread, expanding, systematic and socially sanctioned.
- The space station rocked violently due to the intense pressure wave from the airlock failure.
- Carnap's "Logical Structure of the World" was intensely discussed in the Circle.
- Along the way they overcome many of the Juttensen, Tenshi's elite personal bodyguard.
- The area was swirling in dust so intense that it hid the moon from view.
- Inter-dorm rivalries are common and become particularly intense during the school's cultural festival.
- Under Balanchine's tutelage at American Ballet, Lew Christensen became the first American-born "danseur noble".
- This causes Hortense to have hiccups which Donald tries to cure by scaring her.