| the resistance of a material to longitudinal stress, measured by the minimum amount of longitudinal stress required to rupture the material. |
| tensile strength n. Abbr. TS The resistance of a material to a force tending to tear it apart, measured as the maximum tension the material can withstand without tearing. |
tensile strength  (těn'səl, těn'sīl') Pronunciation Key
A measure of the ability of material to resist a force that tends to pull it apart. It is expressed as the minimum tensile stress (force per unit area) needed to split the material apart. |