Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
Tense - 13 dictionary results
tense
1
[tens] 
,adjective, tens⋅er, tens⋅est, verb, tensed, tens⋅ing.–adjective
| 1. | stretched tight, as a cord, fiber, etc.; drawn taut; rigid. |
| 2. | in a state of mental or nervous strain; high-strung; taut: a tense person. |
| 3. | characterized by a strain upon the nerves or feelings: a tense moment. |
| 4. | Phonetics. pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles; narrow. Compare lax (def. 7). |
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
| 5. | to make or become tense. |
Related forms:
tensely, adverb
tenseness, noun
tense
2 [tens] ,–noun
| 1. | a category of verbal inflection that serves chiefly to specify the time of the action or state expressed by the verb. |
| 2. | a set of such categories or constructions in a particular language. |
| 3. | the time, as past, present, or future, expressed by such a category. |
| 4. | such categories or constructions, or their meanings collectively. |
Origin:
1275–1325; ME tens < MF < L tempus time
1275–1325; ME tens < MF < L tempus time
Related forms:
tenseless, adjective
tense⋅less⋅ly, adverb
tense⋅less⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To Tense
| tense 1 (těns) adj. tens·er, tens·est
To make or become tense. [Latin tēnsus, past participle of tendere, to stretch; see ten- in Indo-European roots.] tense'ly adv., tense'ness n. |
| tense 2 (těns) n.
[Middle English tens, from Old French, time, from Latin tempus.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Tense
Tense\, n. [OF. tens, properly, time, F. temps time, tense. See Temporal of time, and cf. Thing.] (Gram.) One of the forms which a verb takes by inflection or by adding auxiliary words, so as to indicate the time of the action or event signified; the modification which verbs undergo for the indication of time. Note: The primary simple tenses are three: those which express time past, present, and future; but these admit of modifications, which differ in different languages.Tense
Tense\, a. [L. tensus, p. p. of tendere to stretch. See Tend to move, and cf. Toise.] Stretched tightly; strained to stiffness; rigid; not lax; as, a tense fiber. The temples were sunk, her forehead was tense, and a fatal paleness was upon her. --Goldsmith. -- Tense"ly, adv. -- Tense"ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : Tense
Spanish:
tiempo,
German:
die Zeitform,
Japanese:
時制
tense
An inflectional (see inflection) form of verbs; it expresses the time at which the action described by the verb takes place. The major tenses are past, present, and future. The verb in “I sing” is in the present tense; in “I sang,” past tense; in “I will sing,” future tense. Other tenses are the present perfect (“I have sung”), the past perfect (“I had sung”), and the future perfect (“I will have sung”).
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
tense
adj. Of programs, very clever and efficient. A tense piece of code often got that way because it was highly bummed, but sometimes it was just based on a great idea. A comment in a clever routine by Mike Kazar, once a grad-student hacker at CMU: "This routine is so tense it will bring tears to your eyes." A tense programmer is one who produces tense code.
Jargon File 4.2.0
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
tense (adj.)
"stretched tight," 1670, from L. tensus, pp. of tendere "to stretch" (see tenet). Sense of "in a state of nervous tension" is first recorded 1821. The verb meaning "to make tense" is from 1676; intrans. sense of "to become tense" (often tense up) is recorded from 1946.
tense (n.)
"form of a verb showing time of an action or state," c.1315, tens "time," also "tense of a verb" (1388), from O.Fr. tens "time" (11c.), from L. tempus (see temporal).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Main Entry: 1tense
Pronunciation: 'ten(t)s
Function: adjective
Inflected Forms: tens·er; tens·est
1 : stretched tight : made taut or rigid
2 : feeling or showing nervous tension —tense·ness noun
Main Entry: 2tense
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: tensed; tens·ing
transitive senses
: to make tense <tense amuscle> tense intransitive senses
: to become tense
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
tense
Of programs, very clever and efficient. A tense piece of code often got that way because it was highly bummed, but sometimes it was just based on a great idea. A comment in a clever routine by Mike Kazar, once a grad-student hacker at CMU: "This routine is so tense it will bring tears to your eyes." A tense programmer is one who produces tense code.
[The Jargon File]
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
