Dictionary Definition
tension
Noun
1 feelings of hostility that are not manifest;
"he could sense her latent hostility to him"; "the diplomats' first
concern was to reduce international tensions" [syn: latent
hostility]
2 (psychology) a state of mental or emotional
strain or suspense; "he suffered from fatigue and emotional
tension"; "stress is a vasoconstrictor" [syn: tenseness, stress]
3 the physical condition of being stretched or
strained; "it places great tension on the leg muscles"; "he could
feel the tenseness of her body" [syn: tensity, tenseness, tautness]
4 a balance between and interplay of opposing
elements or tendencies (especially in art or literature); "there is
a tension created between narrative time and movie time"; "there is
a tension between these approaches to understanding history"
5 (physics) a stress that produces an elongation
of an elastic physical body; "the direction of maximum tension
moves asymptotically toward the direction of the shear"
6 the action of stretching something tight;
"tension holds the belt in the pulleys"
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From tension.Pronunciation
- /ˈtenʃən/, /"tenS@n/
Noun
- Psychological state of being tense.
- Condition of being held in a state between two or more forces, which are acting in opposition to each other
- State of an elastic object which is stretched in a way which increases its length.
- Voltage. Usually only the terms low tension, high tension, and extra-high tension, and the abbreviations LT, HT, and EHT are used. They are not precisely defined; LT is normally a few volts, HT a few hundreds of volts, and EHT thousands of volts.
Related terms
Translations
psychological state
state of an elastic object
Translations to be checked
- ttbc Italian: tensione
- ttbc Dutch: inspanning, spanning, spankracht
Verb
Finnish
Noun
tensionFrench
Etymology
From tensionem.Pronunciation
Noun
fr-noun fRelated terms
Extensive Definition
Tension may mean:
- In Science
-
- in electricity, high-tension is used in the context of high-voltage electrical wires
- in medicine, tension is to do with physiological or mental stress
- in physics, tension is a force related to the stretching of an object (the opposite of compression)
- In The Arts
-
- in drama, tension is the feeling of uncertainty and interest about the outcome of certain actions an audience perceives
- in film, Tension is a 1950 film noir
- in music, tension is the perceived need for relaxation or release created by a listener's expectations
- in music, Tension is an album by the Christian Rock band Dizmas
- in music, Tension is a song by electronic duo Orbital from their album The Altogether
- in phonetics, tenseness describes a certain sound quality
tension in Catalan: Tensió
tension in Czech: Napětí
tension in German: Spannung
tension in Spanish: Tensión
tension in French: Tension
tension in Galician: Tensión
tension in Italian: Tensione
tension in Latvian: Spriegums (nozīmju
atdalīšana)
tension in Dutch: Spanning
tension in Japanese: テンション
tension in Portuguese: Tensão
tension in Russian: Напряжение
tension in Simple English: Tension
tension in Slovak: Napätie
tension in Slovenian: Napetost
tension in Serbian: Напон
tension in Serbo-Croatian: Napetost
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Discordia, Eris, agitation, all-overs, angst, anxiety, anxiety hysteria,
anxiety neurosis, anxious bench, anxious concern, anxious seat,
anxiousness,
apprehension,
apprehensiveness,
bloat, bloating, breaking point,
cankerworm of care, care,
chill, chilliness, clash, clashing, clutch, coldness, concern, concernment, conflict, contention, coolness, crisis, crunch, disaccord, disaffinity, discomfort, discord, discordance, discordancy, disharmony, disquiet, disquietude, distension, distress, disturbance, dread, edginess, elongation, emergency, enmity, exigency, extension, extreme tension,
fear, fidgetiness, firmness, force, foreboding, forebodingness, friction, frost, haul, heave, high pressure, iciness, imperativeness, incompatibility,
incompatibleness,
inflation, inharmoniousness,
inharmony, inhospitality, inimicality, inquietude, jangle, jar, jitteriness, jumpiness, lengthening, malaise, mental strain, mischief, misgiving, nerves, nervous strain, nervous
tension, nervousness, noncooperation, open
conflict, overanxiety, overdistension, overdrawing, overexertion, overexpansion, overextension, overstrain, overstraining, overstress, overstretching, overtaxing, personal
conflict, perturbation, pinch, pins and needles, press, pressure, production, prolongation, protraction, pucker, pull, rack, renitence, renitency, rigidity, rigidness, rigor, rub, snapping point, solicitude, starchiness, stew, stiffness, strain, strained relations,
straining, stress, stress and strain,
stressfulness,
stretch, stretching, stringing out,
suspense, swelling, tautness, taxing, tenseness, tensity, tightness, traction, trouble, tug, unamiability, uncordiality, unease, uneasiness, unfriendliness, ungeniality, unharmoniousness,
unpleasantness,
unquietness,
unsociability,
upset, urgency, vexation, worry, zeal