I. tense 1 AC /tens/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ tenseness , ↑ tension ; verb : ↑ tense ; adverb : ↑ tensely ; adjective : ↑ tense ]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: 'stretched' , from the past participle of tendere ; ⇨ ↑ tend ]
1 . a tense situation is one in which you feel very anxious and worried because of something bad that might happen ⇨ tension
tense situation/atmosphere/moment etc
Marion spoke, eager to break the tense silence.
2 . feeling worried, uncomfortable, and unable to relax OPP relaxed :
Is anything wrong? You look a little tense.
3 . unable to relax your body or part of your body because your muscles feel tight ⇨ tension :
Massage is great if your neck and back are tense.
She tried to relax her tense muscles.
—tensely adverb
—tenseness noun [uncountable]
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ nervous worried or a little frightened about something and unable to relax:
Kelly was so nervous about her exam that she couldn’t sleep.
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It makes me nervous when you drive that fast.
▪ tense worried and unable to relax in a way that makes you get angry or upset easily:
Mary’s problems at work were making her tense and irritable.
▪ uneasy nervous because you feel that something bad might happen, so that you are unable to relax until the danger has passed:
I began to feel uneasy when he still hadn’t phoned by 11 o'clock.
▪ on edge if you are on edge or your nerves are on edge, you feel nervous because you are worried about what might happen:
My nerves were on edge, waiting for the results of the test.
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Redundancies and other work upheavals have put employees on edge.
▪ neurotic nervous and anxious in a way that is not normal or reasonable:
She’s completely neurotic about food hygiene.
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a neurotic mother
▪ edgy/jumpy/jittery nervous because you are worried about what might happen:
Investors are a little edgy about the financial markets these days.
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There was a lot of pressure on the team tonight and that’s why they were a little jumpy.
▪ highly-strung British English , high-strung American English becoming nervous or upset easily because that is your character:
Like many musicians, he’s very sensitive and highly-strung.
▪ be a nervous wreck to feel extremely nervous and unable to relax:
After 10 months of teaching, I was a total nervous wreck.
▪ have butterflies (in your stomach) informal to feel nervous about something that you are going to do very soon because it is important and you want to do it well:
Actors often have butterflies before going on stage.
II. tense 2 BrE AmE ( also tense up ) verb [intransitive and transitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ tenseness , ↑ tension ; verb : ↑ tense ; adverb : ↑ tensely ; adjective : ↑ tense ]
to make your muscles tight and stiff, or to become tight and stiff:
Relax, and try not to tense up so much.
Every time the phone rang, she tensed.
III. tense 3 BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: tens 'time, tense' , from Latin tempus 'time' ]
any of the forms of a verb that show the time, continuance, or completion of an action or state that is expressed by the verb. ‘I am’ is in the present tense, ‘I was’ is past tense, and ‘I will be’ is future tense.