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tense

• (a) in or of a state of physical or nervous tension
• (a) pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in "beat")
• (a) taut or rigid; stretched tight
  • tense piano strings

Nouns

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

Verbs

• (v) become stretched or tense or taut
  • the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed
  • the rope strained when the weight was attached
  strain,
• (v) increase the tension on
  • alternately relax and tense your calf muscle
  • tense the rope manually before tensing the spring
• (v) become tense, nervous, or uneasy
  • He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room
  tense up,
• (v) cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious
  • he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up
  tense up, strain,

Synonyms

strain tense up

Antonyms

relaxed lax relax decompress unwind loosen up slow down unbend make relaxed unlax unstrain

See also

agitated uneasy tight

Words of close approximity