Meaning

3 senses

  1. (transitive)To apply a tense to.

    tensing a verb

    become tense, nervous, or uneasy

  2. (transitive)To make tense.

    spannen

    напру́жуватиnaprúžuvaty, напру́житиnaprúžyty

    become stretched or tense or taut

  3. (intransitive)To become tense.

    sich spannen, sich anspannen

    напру́жуватисяnaprúžuvatysja, напру́житисяnaprúžytysja

    cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious

Examples

328 sentences

  1. Tom is very tense, isn't he?

    Том дуже напружений, чи не так? — deniko

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Tom's meeting with his boss was very tense.

    Зустріч Тома з начальником була дуже напруженою. — deniko

    deToms Besprechung mit seinem Chef war sehr zermürbend. — Zaghawa

    Source_VOA · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Tom seems very tense.

    Том вигладає дуже напруженим. — deniko

    deTom wirkt sehr angespannt. — wolfgangth

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Tom looks very tense.

    Том вигладає дуже напруженим. — deniko

    ruТом выглядит очень напряжённым. — Selena777

    deTom sieht überanstrengt aus. — Esperantostern

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. I was very tense.

    Я був дуже напружений. — deniko

    ruЯ был очень напряжён. — marafon

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

6 languages
Українська
By meaning 2
make tense:
become tense:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
make tense:
become tense:

Origin

From Middle English tens, from Old French tens (modern French temps), from Latin tempus. D

From Middle English tens, from Old French tens (modern French temps), from Latin tempus. Doublet of tempo and tempus.

Borrowed from Latin tēnsus, one form of the past participle of tendō (“stretch”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

tenses, tensing, tensed, tensed
Base formtense · to tense
3rd person singulartenses
Present participletensing
Past simpletensed
Past participletensed

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theytense
he, she, ittenses

Past simpleLesson

all personstensed

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave tensed
he, she, ithas tensed

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill tense

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious:straintense up
  • become tense, nervous, or uneasy:tense up
  • become stretched or tense or taut:strain

Antonyms

1 antonyms
relax

Word family

5 related words
Relatedtensiontensor
Derivedovertenseuntensetense up

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

Collocations

6 patterns
  • a little tense
  • was very tense
  • seems tense
  • looked tense
  • little tense
  • tense but

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
tennisA1tenortensionB1tentB1

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

tense — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto