tense
a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time (Freq. 2)
• Hypernyms:
grammatical category, syntactic category
• Hyponyms:
present, present tense, aorist, past, past tense,
future, future tense, progressive, progressive tense, imperfect, imperfect tense,
continuous tense, perfective, perfective tense, perfect, perfect tense
1. become stretched or tense or taut
- the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed; " "the rope strained when the weight was attached
• Syn:
strain
• Derivationally related forms:
tension, strain (for: strain)
• Hypernyms:
tighten
• Verb Frames:
- Something ----s
2. increase the tension on
- alternately relax and tense your calf muscle
- tense the rope manually before tensing the spring
• Derivationally related forms:
tension
• Hypernyms:
change, alter, modify
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s something
- Something ----s something
3. become tense, nervous, or uneasy
- He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room
• Syn:
tense up
• Ant:
relax
• Derivationally related forms:
tension, tensor
• Hypernyms:
change state, turn
• Verb Frames:
- Something ----s
- Somebody ----s
- Somebody's (body part) ----s
4. cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious
- he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up
• Syn:
strain, tense up
• Ant:
unstrain (for: strain), relax
• Derivationally related forms:
strain (for: strain), tension
• Hypernyms:
affect
• Hyponyms:
stretch, extend
• Cause:
tense up
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s something
- Something ----s somebody
1. in or of a state of physical or nervous tension
• Ant:
relaxed
• Similar to:
aroused, wound up, cliff-hanging, suspenseful, suspensive,
nail-biting, taut, antsy, fidgety, fretful, itchy,
edgy, high-strung, highly strung, jittery, jumpy, nervy,
overstrung, restive, uptight, electric, isotonic, nervous,
strained, unrelaxed, pumped-up, pumped up, pumped, wired
• See Also:
agitated, uneasy
• Derivationally related forms:
tenseness
2. pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in 'beat')
• Ant:
lax
• Similar to:
constricted
• Topics:
phonetics
3. taut or rigid;
stretched tight
- tense piano strings
• Ant:
lax
• Similar to:
overstrung, taut, tight
• See Also:
tight
• Derivationally related forms:
tenseness, tensity
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