~ 1
■ adjective
1》 (especially of a muscle) stretched tight or rigid.
2》 (of a person) unable to relax.
↘causing or showing anxiety and nervousness.
3》 Phonetics (of a speech sound, especially a vowel) pronounced with the vocal muscles stretched tight. The opposite of lax .
■ verb make or become ~.
Derivatives
~ly adverb
~ness noun
tensity noun ( rare ).
Origin
C17: from L. tensus , tendere 'to stretch'.
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~ 2
■ noun Grammar a set of forms taken by a verb to indicate the time (and sometimes the continuance or completeness) of the action in relation to the time of the utterance.
Derivatives
~less adjective
Origin
ME: from OFr. tens , from L. tempus 'time'.