tensionn.
/ˈtɛnʃən/ The action of stretching or condition of being stretched: in various senses.figurative.1859 C. Kingsley Misc. (1860) II. 75 Everything..has exasperated, not calmed, the electric tension of the European atmosphere.
1.
a. Physiology and Pathology. The condition, in any part of the body, of being stretched or strained; a sensation indicating or suggesting this; a feeling of tightness. (The earliest use in English.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [noun] > pinching or pressure
pinchinga1413
tension1541
wringing1606
tensity1658
girdle-sensation1885
girdle-pains1897
the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > [noun] > pressure within
tension1705
1541 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) 59 b There is felt within the bulke of a man..a weyghtynesse with tension, or thrustyng outwarde.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 656 The veines..upon the tention and commotion whereof..drunkennesse doth proceed.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 739 The first is a streatching or Tention not without strife or contention.
1705 F. Fuller Medicina Gymnastica 31 What I mean by this Tension or Tone of the Parts.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Vomiting The tention of the Hypocondria and confus'd Sight.
1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful iv. §3. 122 An unnatural tension of the nerves.
1855 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. ii. xi. 213 A correspondingly strong sensation of muscular tension.
b. Botany. Applied to a strain or pressure in the cells or tissues of plants arising from changes taking place in the course of growth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > pressure, growth, or sensitivity of
solubility1832
tylose1872
tension1875
tylosis1876
tonotaxis1900
suction pressure1922
1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 708 Causes of the condition of Tension in Plants. The elasticity of the organised parts of plants results in tension chiefly from the operation of three causes.
1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 713 In a turgid cell, the cell-wall is..in a state of negative, the contents in a state of positive tension.
1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 720 It is only when the epidermis is becoming cuticularised and the walls of the bast-cells are beginning to thicken that the tensions become perceptible.
2. figurative. A straining, or strained condition, of the mind, feelings, or nerves.
a. Straining of the mental powers or faculties; severe or strenuous intellectual effort; intense application.
ΚΠ
a1763 W. Shenstone Oeconomy i, in Wks. Verse & Prose (1764) I. 290 When fancy's vivid spark impels the soul To scorn quotidian scenes,..what nostrum shall compose Its fatal tension?
1826 W. Gifford Let. in S. Smiles Publisher & Friends (1891) II. xxv. 172 It is a fearful thing to break down the mind by unremitted tension.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 12 The mind cannot be always in a state of intellectual tension.
b. Nervous or emotional strain; intense suppressed excitement; a strained condition of feeling or mutual relations which is for the time outwardly calm, but is likely to result in a sudden collapse, or in an outburst of anger or violent action of some kind.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > tension > [noun]
tensure1626
twitchiness1834
tension1847
tensity1862
hypertension1936
uptightness1969
1847 B. Disraeli Tancred II. iv. vi. 239 The expression..of extreme tension..had disappeared.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. vii. 82 As the danger decreased with the distance, the supernatural tension of the nervous system lessened.
1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. II. vii. 311 Society cannot permanently exist in a condition of extreme tension.
1885 Liverpool Daily Post 11 Apr. 64/7 A tension of feeling which has had no parallel since the outbreak of the Crimean war.
c. Esp. in Psychology. A condition of strain produced by anxiety, need, or by a sense of mental, emotional, or physical disequilibrium; also attributive or as adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > study of emotions > opposition of feelings > [noun] > strain arising from
conflict1859
tension1884
issue1977
1884 W. James in Mind 9 12 The states of tension..have as positive an influence as the discharges in determining the total condition, and consequently in deciding what the psychosis shall be to which the complex neurosis corresponds.
1925 H. M. Guthrie & E. R. Guthrie tr. Janet Princ. Psychotherapy iv. 234 Psychic tension [is] characterized by the degree of activation and the hierarchical degree of acts.
1930 J. Riviere tr. S. Freud Civilization & its Discontents 127 The sense of guilt..is..the ego's appreciation of the tension between its strivings and the standards of the super-ego; and the anxiety that lies behind.
1935 D. K. Adams & K. E. Zener tr. K. Lewin Dynamic Theory of Personality ii. 59 A tendency may readily be observed toward immediate discharge of tension (to a state of equilibrium at the lowest possible state of tension).
1958 H. A. Murray in G. Lindzey Assessment of Human Motives vii. 194 The concept of human nature..is a concept of perpetually recurrent drives, or tensions.
d. The conflict created by interplay of the constituent elements of a work of art. Used esp. of poetry. (See also quot. 1941.)
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > the arts in general > [noun] > work of art > qualities generally
decoruma1568
humoura1568
variety1597
strength1608
uniformity1625
barbarity1644
freedom1645
boldness1677
correctness1684
clinquant1711
unity1712
contrast1713
meretriciousness1727
airiness1734
pathos1739
chastity1760
vigour1774
prettyism1789
mannerism1803
serio-comic1805
actuality1812
largeness1824
local colour1829
subjectivitya1834
idealism1841
pastoralism1842
inartisticalitya1849
academicism1852
realism1856
colour contrast1858
crampedness1858
niggling1858
audacity1859
superreality1859
literalism1860
pseudo-classicism1861
sensationalism1862
sensationism1862
chocolate box1865
pseudo-classicality1867
academism1871
actualism1872
academicalism1874
ethos1875
terribilità1877
local colouring1881
neoclassicism1893
mass effect1902
attack1905
verismo1908
kitsch1921
abstraction1923
self-consciousness1932
surreality1936
tension1941
build-up1942
sprezzatura1957
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > other aspects or elements > [noun] > tension
tension1941
1941 A. Tate Reason in Madness 72 I proposed..the term tension..using the term not as a general metaphor, but as a special one, derived from lopping the prefixes off the logical terms extension and intension... The meaning of poetry is its ‘tension’, the full organized body of all the extension and intension that we can find in it.
1949 Poetry Feb. 305 Tension,..the resultant effectual unity of the poem derived from the operation of such conflict-structures as wit, paradox and irony, slackness being the result of a failure in tension.
1957 N. Frye Anat. Crit. 256 It is more likely to be the harsh, rugged, dissonant poem..that will show in poetry the tension and the driving accented impetus of music.
1975 Language 51 583 Metrical tension can be construed as the degree of difference between underlying and derived metrical patterns.
3.
a. Physics. A constrained condition of the particles of a body when subjected to forces acting in opposite directions away from each other (usually along the body's greatest length), thus tending to draw them apart, balanced by forces of cohesion holding them together; the force or combination of forces acting in this way, esp. as a measurable quantity. (The opposite of compression or pressure.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > [noun] > tension
strain1602
tensure1626
tension1685
striction1889
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > types of hardness > [noun] > tautness > degree of or tension
brace1669
tension1685
writhe1879
1685 R. Boyle Ess. Effects of Motion viii. 92 If you cut the string of a bent bow asunder, the..extreams will fly from one another suddenly and forcibly enough to manifest that they were before in a violent state of Tension.
1782 V. Knox Ess. I. xxi. 101 The string which is constantly kept in a state of tension will vibrate on the slightest impulse.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 570 The strain occasioned by pulling timber in the direction of its length is called tension.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xxviii. 232 The tension of the great field of ice over which we passed must have been enormous. It had a sensible curvature.
1881 Metal World No. 18. 277 A weight being placed on a beam or girder (..resting on the support at each end..), the top is..thrown into compression and the bottom into tension.
b. Biology and Medicine (also Physics) = pressure n.1 5b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > [noun] > pressure > fluid pressure > vapour pressure
tension1678
vapour tension1864
vapour pressure1875
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > [noun] > steam > pressure produced by steam
tension1844
the world > life > biology > biological processes > absorption or assimilation (of a substance, etc.) > [noun] > oxygen pressure which affects its uptake
tension1940
the world > life > the body > vascular system > circulation > [noun] > pressure of oxygen in arterial blood
tension1971
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. v. 851 A Pressure..upon the Optick Nerve by Reason of a Tension of the Intermedious Air or Æther.
1826 M. Faraday Exper. Res. xxxiii. 200 The air..has a certain degree of elasticity, or tension.
1844 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 7 155/1 The steam..is retained between the boiler and the plate until by its ‘tension’ or elasticity it is forced downwards and underneath the edge of the plate.
1863 J. Tyndall Heat (1870) i. §9. 8 He wishes to apply the force of his steam, or of the furnace which gives tension to his steam, to this particular purpose.
1906 W. Marriott Hints to Meteorol. Observers (ed. 6) 69/1 Tension of vapour.
1907 J. H. Parsons Dis. Eye ii. 18 The pressure inside the eye is called the intraocular pressure, or the tension, of the eye.
1940 Jrnl. Bacteriol. 39 307 (heading) The effect of oxygen tension on the oxygen uptake of lake bacteria.
1971 Brit. Med. Bull. 27 55/2 The oxygen tension in the arterial blood may be somewhat lowered.
1972 A. H. Halasa Basic Aspects of Glaucomas xi. 97 Low tension glaucoma refers to a condition characterized by a normal intraocular pressure associated with..glaucomatous visual field defects.
c. transferred. The degree of tightness or looseness of the stitches in machine sewing or in knitting. Hence (also tension-device), a device in a sewing machine for regulating the tightness of the stitch.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > equipment for > sewing-machine > parts of or attachments for
presser bar1813
flat bed1819
shuttle1847
foot1854
looper1857
take-up1859
work holder1859
feller1860
shuttle-carrier1860
binder1865
braider1866
ruffler1868
presser foot1875
shuttle-windera1877
tension-device1877
thread-cutter1877
thread-oiler1877
tuck-creaser1877
tucking-gauge1877
tuck-marker1877
thread-guide1924
zipper foot1938
free arm1948
balance-wheel1961
tuck-folder-
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > sewn or ornamented textile fabric > [noun] > sewing or work sewn > stitch > sewing machine stitch > tension in
tension1932
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > knitting > stitch > tension of
tension1933
1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. (at cited word) By adjustment of the pressure at the tension device, the required tightness of stitch is obtained... There are many..kinds of tensions, in different machines. Fig. 6309 shows the..automatic tension... The automatic tension-device..is placed in the standard of the machine.
1932 D. C. Minter Mod. Needlecraft 199/2 Learn how to regulate machine stitch and tension.
1933 Tillotson & Minter Compl. Knitting Bk. ii. 21 The knitted loops, for a correct tension, should just cling lightly and closely to the reader.
1950 J. Norbury Knitter's Craft i. 10 A loose tension will produce a flabby, ill-fitting garment.
1973 Tucson (Arizona) Daily Citizen 22 Aug. 3 (advt.) Brother sewing machine Lightweight zig zag..fingertip touch tension.
1980 ‘C. Fremlin’ With no Crying x. 61 Alison was concentrating on those first vital rows of her knitting, making sure that she was getting the tension right.
4. The stress along lines of force in a dielectric. Formerly applied also to surface density of electric charge, and until about 1882 used vaguely as a synonym for potential, electromotive force, and mechanical force exerted by electricity: still so applied, in industrial and commercial use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric charge, electricity > [noun]
electricity1646
tension1785
Q1846
point charge1896
zap1979
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > voltage > electrical potential > [noun]
tension1785
electric tension1802
potential1828
potential function1828
pd1887
pressure1889
potentiality1898
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > non-conduction, insulation > [noun] > substance or contrivance > property of
tension1785
isotropy1888
power factor1892
1785 G. Adams Ess. Electr. (ed. 2) x. 208 The whole energy of electricity depends on its tension, or the force with which it endeavours to fly off from the electrified body.
1802 A. Volta in Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Feb. 137 In the one case, as well as in the other, the electric tension [It. la tensione elettrica] rises, during the contact, to the same point.
1833 M. Faraday Exper. Res. (1855) I. 97 The attractions and repulsions due to the tension of ordinary electricity.
1837 D. Brewster Treat. Magnetism 159 The sun heating and illuminating the earth, and producing a magnetic tension.
1839 G. Bird Elements Nat. Philos. 218 On their separation they are found to possess..a certain quantity of free electricity of low tension.
1841 W. Francis tr. G. S. Ohm in R. Taylor Sci. Mem. II. 416 (Ohm's Law) The force of the current in a galvanic circuit is directly as the sum of all the tensions [Ger. die Summe aller Spannungen], and inversely as the entire reduced length of the circuit.
1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. Mr. Harris applies to the actual force of a charge to break down any non-conducting or dielectric medium between two terminating electrified planes.
1866 R. M. Ferguson Electricity 64 Tension..is the power to polarise and effect discharge.
1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) II. xvi. 439 Such machines deliver a large quantity of electricity of low tension.
1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magn. (1881) I. 59 Finding the phrase electric tension used in several vague senses, I have attempted to confine it to..the state of stress in the dielectric medium which causes motion of the electrified bodies, and leads, when continually augmented, to disruptive discharge.
1881 S. P. Thompson Elem. Lessons Electr. & Magn. 203 (note) The word tension..is so often misapplied in text-books... The term would be invaluable if we might adopt it to denote only the mechanical stress across a dielectric, due to accumulated charges.
1882 Nature 12 Oct. 570/2 M. Gariel breaks free from servitude to the consecrated term ‘tension’, so often misused as a synonym for potential, electro-motive force, and we know not what.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
tension area n.
ΚΠ
1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. I. i. 20 At the beginning the vis viva was zero and the tension area was a maximum.
tension device n. (See 3c.)
tension thrill n.
ΚΠ
1893 T. E. Brown Old John & Other Poems 111 To him the sorrows are the tension-thrills Of that serene endeavour.
b. spec. Applied to parts of a structure subjected to tensile stress.
tension-member n.
tension-rod n.
ΚΠ
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 126/1 Each pair of rafters is tied by means of a tension rod.
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 381/1 The platform, or roadway, was laid upon cast iron beams, suspended from the main chains by perpendicular iron bars or tension rods, about five feet apart.
c. (In sense 2.)
tension state n.
ΚΠ
1946 Mind 55 149 We have, therefore, to discover these responses that are the most successful in resolving the personal tension state of which political argument is the expression.
1977 J. D. Douglas in J. D. Douglas & J. M. Johnson Existential Sociol. i. 43 Anomie appears to be a tension state that is produced in the individual by an inability to achieve success by legitimate means.
tension system n.
ΚΠ
1936 Mind 45 248 The technique which seeks to make an undesired goal palatable or a desired goal unpalatable, by linking them up somehow with the ‘natural’ tension-systems of the child.
1953 M. Horwitz in Cartwright & Zander Group Dynamics xx. 371 Individuals develop tension systems coordinated to reaching their own goals.
d.
tension-relieving adj.
ΚΠ
1949 A. Koestler Insight & Outlook 421 Neglect of the emotional dynamics of laughter, of its tension-relieving aspect.
1974 M. C. Gerald Pharmacol. xi. 201 Quiet World contains ‘special calming and tension-relieving ingredients’.
C2.
tension bar n. (a) (see quot. 1879); (b) a metal bar used to apply pressure or exert tension.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > other specific types of equipment > [noun] > other tools and equipment
pollhache1324
poleaxe1356
muckrake1366
pestlea1382
botea1450
staff1459
press-board1558
reel1593
water crane1658
lathekin1659
tower1662
dressing hook1683
liner1683
hovel1686
flax-brake1688
nipper1688
horse1728
tap1797
feather-stick1824
bow1839
safety belt1840
economizer1841
throttle damper1849
cleat1854
leg brace1857
bark-peeler1862
pugging screw1862
nail driver1863
spool1864
turntable1865
ovate1872
tension bar1879
icebreaker1881
spreader1881
toucher1881
window pole1888
mushroom head1890
rat1894
slackline1896
auger1897
latch hook1900
thimble1901
horse1904
pipe jack1909
mulcher1910
hand plate1911
splashguard1917
cheese-cutter1927
airbrasive1945
impactor1945
fogger1946
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > parts and equipment of vehicles generally > [noun] > other parts
body bolt1810
safety chain1832
footplate1833
aisle1835
headlining1848
bumper1867
floor-plate1869
tension bar1879
suicide door1960
bull bar1967
roo bar1973
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > other parts > [noun] > other specific parts
armOE
button?1561
running gear1663
relax1676
collar1678
drumhead1698
long arm1717
drum1744
press cloth1745
head1785
absorber1789
bearing plate1794
crown1796
rhodings1805
press box1825
alternator1829
cushion1832
saw tooth1835
shoe1837
keyboard1839
returner1839
cross-head1844
channel shoe1845
baster1846
water port1864
shifter1869
magazine1873
entry port1874
upsetter1875
mechanism1876
tapper1876
tension bar1879
buttonholer1882
take-up1884
auger1886
instrument panel1897
balancer1904
torsion bar1937
powerhead1960
1879 Car-Builder's Dict. 163/1 Tension bar, a bar which is subjected to a strain of tension.
1963 R. R. A. Higham Handbk. Papermaking viii. 212 Tension bars are usually found on calendars, especially when treating light-weight papers, and in action these serve to keep the sheet flat and taut across the working width.
1977 ‘E. McBain’ Long Time no See xiii. 215 The telephone was as vital a tool to policemen as was a tension bar to a burglar.
tension-bridge n. a bridge in which there is tensile stress between parts of the structure, as a bowstring-bridge (see bowstring n. Compounds 1, and quot. below).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > bridge > suspension bridge
suspended bridge1796
hanging bridge1815
wire bridge1816
chain-bridge1818
bridge of suspension1821
suspension-bridge1821
jhula1830
tension-bridge1877
1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Tension-bridge, a bridge constructed on the principle of the bow, the arch supporting the track by means of tension-rods, and the string acting as a tie.
tension-fuse n. a form of electric fuse which is fired by a spark at a break in a circuit.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > circuit > fuse > [noun]
cutout1874
safety catch1881
safety plug1882
fuse1884
tension-fuse1890
plug fuse1905
1890 Cent. Dict. at Fuse Tension-fuse, an electric fuse in which the conducting circuit is not complete, the firing being accomplished by the passage of a spark.
tension magnet n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > [noun] > magnet
bar magnet1821
electromagnet1821
tension magnet1891
growler1922
1891 Cent. Dict. (at cited word) An electromagnet surrounded by a coil of many turns and high electrical resistance was called by Henry a tension magnet.
tension-pulley n. a free pulley or roller over which a belt, etc., passes to keep it stretched tight; a tightening-pulley.
ΚΠ
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 303 For the purpose of keeping a due degree of tension on the chain, a small movable tension pulley is applied.
tension-rail n. a rail for stretching cloth during the process of printing.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > surface and planographic printing > other surface-printing > [noun] > textiles > equipment
rolling press1675
cylinder1764
surface roller1815
colour plate1819
colour pan1834
hand block1835
sieve1839
toby tub1842
wheelbarrow-machine1856
tension-rail1890
1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 169 To..draw in the apparently endless plain white calico, zigzagging it over tension rails, and running it on, giving it an extra colour at every turn.
tension-roller n. = tension-pulley n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > parts which provide power > [noun] > pulleys
pulleya1586
tension-roller1835
idle pulley1873
jockey-pulley1893
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 196 The tension or stretching-roller has its axle mounted in the segment-racks as usual.
tension-spicule n. in sponges (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Parazoa > phylum Porifera > [noun] > member of > parts of > sponge spicule > flesh spicule
tension-spicule1886
microsclere1887
1886 R. von Lendenfeld in Proc. Zool. Soc. 21 Dec. 564 Called Flesh-spicules or Microsclera (Tension-spicules of Bowerbank).
tension spring n. (a) a spring for carriages, etc. composed of inner and outer leaves, connected at the ends, but free in the middle, so as to elongate independently under strain; (b) a spring used to maintain a required degree of tautness.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > parts of cart or carriage > [noun] > type of spring
cee spring1794
bow-spring1840
tension spring1877
dumb-iron1907
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [noun] > part of > spring
spring1428
sprent1511
gin1591
resort1598
worm1724
worm-spring1730
scape-spring1825
leaf spring1855
blade-spring1863
nest spring1866
tension spring1877
coil spring1890
1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Tension-spring, a spring for wagons, railway-carriages, etc... The outer leaves..impart a tensile strain to the inner ones.
1966 J. Stevens Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 148/1 Tension spring, a spirally wound and flattened wire spring which, when stretched returns to its original length... The tension spring is sometimes replaced by elastic.
1970 Which? Aug. 238/2 A faulty tension spring on the bobbin case stopped the tensioning adjustment from working properly.
tension wood n. = reaction wood n. at reaction n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > wood > [noun] > juvenile or reaction wood
redwood1916
tension wood1924
compression wood1925
reaction wood1948
juvenile wood1956
1924 W. S. Jones Timbers iv. 27 ‘Tension’ or ‘white’ wood differs from ‘red’ wood in that the cell walls of the tracheids show a well-developed, strongly-lignified, tertiary layer.
1951 R. C. McLean & W. R. Ivimey-Cook Textbk. Theoret. Bot. I. xxi. 907 In conifers the lower wood is reddish, the upper white..the upper wood being called tension-wood.
1972 Gloss. Terms Timber (B.S.I.) 15 Tension wood. Abnormal wood..formed typically on the upper sides of branches and of leaning or crooked trunks of hardwood trees.
Derivatives
ˈtension v. (transitive) to subject to tension, tighten, make taut.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > types of hardness > [verb (transitive)] > make taut
stretcha1387
bracec1440
wrench1577
span1598
tend1646
span1650
screw1657
tauten1777
tensify1869
tense1884
tension1891
1891 Engineer LXXI. 120/2 [List of patents.] Tensioning saddles of velocipedes, F. A. Matthews, London.
1950 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 54 631/1 The ‘floating stud’..is a slotted template stud contained in a metal ring, and tensioned by three or four springs.
1975 Kong & Evans Reinforced & Prestressed Concrete ix. 196 When the concrete has hardened sufficiently, the tendons are tensioned by jacking against one or both ends of the member.
ˈtensioned adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > tension > [adjective]
tautc1275
rigid?a1425
high-strung1653
wound-up1788
stretched1799
high-toned1804
overstrung1810
intense1817
tense1821
high-tuned1827
screwed-up1829
twittery1840
high-keyed1848
strung-up1853
strained1863
tensioned1872
twitchy1874
keyed-up1885
tensed1911
uptight1934
wired1970
1872 Daily News 28 Feb. The whole nation was hanging in a tensioned spasm of fear.
a1879 Tyndall (Webster Supp.) A highly tensioned string.
1893 De Long in Chicago Advance 28 Sept. How tensioned are our nerves!
ˈtensioning n.
ΚΠ
1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 277/1 Upon the correct tensioning of the spokes [of a bicycle] depends the ‘truth’ of the wheel.
1906 Cyclists' Touring Club Gaz. Aug. 311 The tensioning is done by turning the three screws at the back of the saddle upwards from the right to left, so as to withdraw them. Most riders make the mistake when tensioning the saddle of turning the screws the wrong way.
ˈtensional adj. of, pertaining to, of the nature of, or affected with tension.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > types of hardness > [adjective] > taut > relating to tension
tensional1862
1862 Internat. Exhib.: Illustr. Catal. Industr. Dept. II. x. 6/1 The tensional parts of a pair of rigid trusses.
1881 Athenæum 2 July 16/3 The total energy of vibrations as being made up of two parts, one statical or tensional, and the other kinetic.
ˈtensionally adv. by means of tension, as a result of tension.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > types of hardness > [adverb] > tautly
tensely1782
tautly1824
tensionally1960
1960 R. W. Marks Dymaxion World Buckminster Fuller 195 Magnesium ball-jointed tripods..were tensionally opened by piston-elevated masts.
1975 New Yorker 12 May 41/1 Tensionally cohered universe here today and gone tomorrow.
ˈtensionless adj. without tension, unstrained.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > types of softness > [adjective] > slack or not tense
slakec1374
slackc1386
remiss?a1425
loosec1460
relax1605
lax1660
stray1791
relaxed1825
unstraitened1859
unstrained1882
tensionless1905
1905 Dundee Advertiser 22 Dec. 9/2 A lecture on the subject of ‘The Tensionless Drive’. The lecturer treated of the efficacy of belts as a means of transmitting power.
Draft additions December 2003
tension headache n. a headache resulting from muscular tension (usually of the neck or shoulders), esp. as a consequence of stress.
ΚΠ
1947 N.Y. Times 24 Apr. 28/6 Most headaches that come on in children after seeing the movies are ‘excitement headaches’—a form of tension headaches, and they are not helped by glasses.
1959 Times 13 July 9/6 (advt.) How tension headaches start. Many headaches start somewhere you'd never suspect—in the muscles of the back of the neck and scalp.
1997 M. L. Elkiss & L. E. Rentz in R. C. Ward Found. Osteopathic Med. xxxiv. 404/1 Does it pound like a vascular headache or squeeze like a tension headache?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1541- palm-leaf fan
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