tense

Adjective

• taut or rigid; stretched tight
  • tense piano strings
    

• pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat')

• in or of a state of physical or nervous tension

Noun

• a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time

Verb

• cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious
  • he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up
    

• become tense, nervous, or uneasy
  • He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room
    

• increase the tension on
  • alternately relax and tense your calf muscle
    
  • tense the rope manually before tensing the spring
    

• become stretched or tense or taut
  • the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed
    
  • the rope strained when the weight was attached
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  strain , tense up
• Antonyms: 
  lax , relaxed , relax , unstrain , unlax , loosen up , unwind , make relaxed , unbend , decompress , slow down