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- Dictionarytense/tɛns/
adjective
- 1. (especially of a muscle) stretched tight or rigid: "she tried to relax her tense muscles" Similar Opposite
- 2. unable to relax because of nervousness, anxiety, or stimulation: "he was tense with excitement"
verb
- 1. become tense, typically through anxiety or nervousness: "her body tensed up"
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nervous and worried and unable to relax: She was very tense as she waited for the interview. B2. If a situation is tense, it causes feelings of worry or nervousness: There were some tense moments in the second half of the game. More examples. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. tense adjective (STRETCHED)
1. : stretched tight : made taut : rigid. tense muscles. 2. a. : feeling or showing nervous tension. a tense smile. b. : marked by strain or suspense. a tense thriller. 3. : produced with the muscles involved in a relatively tense state. the vowels \ē\ and \ü\ in contrast with the vowels \i\ and \u̇\ are tense. tensely adverb. tenseness noun.
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.
TENSE definition: 1. nervous, worried, and not able to relax: 2. A tense situation makes you feel nervous and…. Learn more.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
May 8, 2023 · A tense is a grammatical category that expresses the time of an action or event. In English grammar, tenses are formed by the inflection of verbs to indicate the time when an action or event occurred. The Three Main Tenses. The three main tenses in English are past, present, and future.