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- Dictionarytense/tens/
adjective
- 1. (especially of a muscle or someone's body) stretched tight or rigid: "she tried to relax her tense muscles" Similar Opposite
verb
- 1. become tense, typically through anxiety or nervousness: "her body tensed up"
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The meaning of TENSE is stretched tight : made taut : rigid. How to use tense in a sentence.
TENSE definition: 1. any of the forms of a verb which show the time at which an action happened: 2. nervous and…. Learn more.
Tense is a verb-based method used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or completeness, of an action or state in relation to the time of speaking.
Define tense: In grammar, the definition of tense is a verb’s quality that shows time in which an act, state, or condition occurs or occurred. In summary, there are three tense groups in English which include past, present, and future. The past expresses events that have ended. The present expresses general truths.
noun. a category of verbal inflection that serves chiefly to specify the time of the action or state expressed by the verb. a set of such categories or constructions in a particular language. the time, as past, present, or future, expressed by such a category.
When something's stretched tight, it's tense. A rope can be tense. So can a muscle. When a person's tense, they're anxious. When a situation is tense, you might say you could "cut the tension with a knife." When a muscle tenses up, it contracts suddenly–-a person can be said to tense up also. The opposite of tense is "relaxed."
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. There was a tense silence.
nervous, worried, and not able to relax: The students looked tense as they waited for their exam results. tense adjective (SITUATION) B2. A tense situation makes you feel nervous and worried: There were some tense moments in the second half of the game. tense adjective (MUSCLE) A tense muscle feels tight and stiff. tense. verb [ I, T ]
To make or become tense. A property of verbs in which the time of the action or state, as well as its continuance or completion, is indicated or expressed. A characteristic of verbs that indicates the time of the action or state of being that a verb expresses; also, an analytic category based on this characteristic.
Verb tense is determined by when the action took place. The three main tenses are the past tense, the present tense, and the future tense. Verb tense also tells whether the action is habitual, ongoing, or completed.
