| noun | a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time |
| verb | become stretched or tense or taut “the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;” |
| verb | increase the tension on “alternately relax and tense your calf muscle” |
| verb | become tense, nervous, or uneasy “He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room” |
| verb | cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious “he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up” |
| adjective | in or of a state of physical or nervous tension |
| adjective | pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat') |
| adjective | taut or rigid; stretched tight “tense piano strings” |
| strain | noun | (physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces |
| tension | noun | (physics) a stress that produces an elongation of an elastic physical body |
| tensor | noun | any of several muscles that cause an attached structure to become tense or firm |
| tenseness | noun | (psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense |
| tensity | noun | the physical condition of being stretched or strained |