tense

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   cause to be uneasy or nervous or anxious

   The corporation got a phone call from their lawyers that tensed them up.

2. 2
   verb

   become tense, nervous, or uneasy

   I tensed up when I saw my enemies approaching.

3. 3
   verb

   increase the tension on

   alternately relax and tense your calf muscle

4. 4
   verb

   become stretched or tense or taut

   the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed

5. 5
   noun

   The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.

   Dyirbal verbs are not inflected for tense.

6. 6
   noun

   An inflected form of a verb that indicates tense.

   English only has a past tense and a non-past tense; it has no future tense.

7. 7
   noun

   A verb form or construction indicating a combination of tense, aspect, and mood.

   The "simple present" tense in English can have several meanings.

8. 8
   verb

   To apply a tense to.

   tensing a verb

Etymology

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