| 释义 |
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024tense1 /tɛns/USA pronunciation adj., tens•er, tens•est, v., tensed, tens•ing. adj. - stretched tight, as a cord, etc.;
rigid or stiff:tense muscles. - of or relating to a state of nervous strain:a tense moment.
v. - to make or become tense: [no object]Her neck muscles tensed in the sudden cold.[~ (+ up) + object]He tensed (up) his muscles when he heard the guard open his cell.
tense•ly, adv. : They sat tensely through the whole movie. tense•ness, n. [uncountable]See -tend-. tense2 /tɛns/USA pronunciation n. - Grammara category of verbs or changes in the forms of verbs that serve chiefly to show or refer to the time of the action or state expressed by the verb;
one of the forms of a verb that conveys time: [countable]How many verb tenses are there in English?[uncountable]how different languages express tense.
See -temp-. WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024tense1 (tens),USA pronunciation adj., tens•er, tens•est, v., tensed, tens•ing.
adj. - stretched tight, as a cord, fiber, etc.;
drawn taut;
rigid. - in a state of mental or nervous strain;
high-strung;
taut:a tense person. - characterized by a strain upon the nerves or feelings:a tense moment.
- Phoneticspronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles;
narrow. Cf. lax (def. 7).
v.t., v.i. - to make or become tense.
- Latin tēnsus past participle of tendere to stretch; see tend1
- 1660–70
- Grammara category of verbal inflection that serves chiefly to specify the time of the action or state expressed by the verb.
- Grammara set of such categories or constructions in a particular language.
- Grammarthe time, as past, present, or future, expressed by such a category.
- Grammarsuch categories or constructions, or their meanings collectively.
- Latin tempus time
- Middle French
- Middle English tens 1275–1325
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: tense /tɛns/ adj - stretched or stressed tightly; taut or rigid
- under mental or emotional strain
- producing mental or emotional strain: a tense day
- (of a speech sound) pronounced with considerable muscular effort and having relatively precise accuracy of articulation and considerable duration: in English the vowel ( iː ) in ``beam'' is tense
vb - (often followed by up) to make or become tense
Etymology: 17th Century: from Latin tensus taut, from tendere to stretchˈtensely adv ˈtenseness n tense /tɛns/ n - a category of the verb or verbal inflections, such as present, past, and future, that expresses the temporal relations between what is reported in a sentence and the time of its utterance
Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French tens time, from Latin tempusˈtenseless adj |