tension
Syllables: ten·sion/ˈtɛnʃn̩/US/ˈtɛnʃən/
tension noun: the condition of being held in a state between two or more forces, which are acting in opposition to each other.
Noun
tension (countable and uncountable, plural tensions)
- The condition of being held in a state between two or more forces, which are acting in opposition to each other.
- My tensions with Eric over his alleged past actions have been fully resolved.
- A psychological state of being tense.
- A feeling of nervousness, excitement, or fear that is created in a movie, book, etc.; suspense.
- This popular characterization of the Devil incorporates the Trickster archetype. Both are smart, energetic, lying, quick to take advantage of an opportunity. Both have latent narrative appeal in their generation of tension and conflict, their unpredictability, their defiance of hierarchy and...1983, Wendy Griswold, “The Devil's Techniques: Cultural Legitimation and Social Change”, in American Sociological Review, volume 48, number 5, page 670b of 668–680
- The state of an elastic object which is stretched in a way which increases its length.
- A force transmitted through a rope, string, cable, or similar object (used with prepositions on, in, or of, e.g., "The tension in the cable is 1000 N", to convey that the same magnitude of force applies to objects attached to both ends).
- Most of the overhead system is of the weight-tensioned type, constant tension being automatically applied by balance weights.1959 June, “Clacton and Walton Electrification”, in Railway Magazine, page 379
- Voltage.
Verb
tension (third-person singular simple present tensions, present participle tensioning, simple past and past participle tensioned)
tension meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
tension in Hindi
- psychological state
- तनाव tanāv
- state of an elastic object
- खिंचाव khiñcāv, तान tān
- voltage
- विभवांतर vibhvāntar
tension in Tamil
- விரைப்பு, இறுக்கம், மிகு உணர்ச்சி, பதற்றம், நெருக்கடி நிலை
tension in Urdu
- psychological state
- کَشِیدَگی kaśīdagī, تَناؤ tanāo
- voltage
- وولْٹیج volṭej, تَناؤ tanāo, جُہْد juhd
tension in Bengali
- টান, চাপা উত্তেজনা, তান, পীড়ন, প্রসারণ, বিততি
More languagesFewer languages
- tension in Telugu
- తన్యత tanyata
- tension in Malayalam
- ടെൻഷൻ ṭeṉṣaṉ
- tension in Kannada
- ಒತ್ತಡ, ಬಿಗಿತ, ಎಳೆತ, ಕರ್ಷಣ
- tension in Tagalog
- binit, boltahe
- tension in Arabic
- تَوَتُّر tawattur, شَدّ šadd, جُهْد juhd, فُولْتِيَّة voltiyya
- tension in Malay
- voltan, tegangan
- tension in Indonesian
- tegangan, voltase, spaning
- tension in Thai
- แรงดันไฟฟ้า rɛɛng-dan-fai-fáa, โวลเตจ woon-dtèet
- tension in Vietnamese
- điện áp, hiệu điện thế
- tension in Myanmar
- ဗို့အား bui.a:
Examples of tension in a sentence
- There was a tension in the air which made me suspect an approaching storm.
- Tensions between the two countries have relaxed somewhat in recent weeks.
- The bills mounted up and the business failed. There is mounting tension in Crimea.
Forms of tension
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | tensions |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | tensions |
| present participle | tensioning |
| past participle | tensioned |
| past | tensioned |
Origin of tension
Borrowed from Middle French tension, from Latin tēnsiō.
Words formed from tension
- tensional
- tensioner
- tensionless
- antitension
- hypertension
- hypotension
- normotension
- overtension
- post-tension
- posttension
- pretension
- thermotension
- applied tension
- Dymaxion
- high tension
- high-tension
- Hubble tension
- premenstrual tension
- sexual tension
- strategy of tension
- surface tension
- tensiometry
- tension headache
- tension myoneural syndrome
- tension myositis syndrome
- tension pneumo
- tension rod
- tension wood
- tension wrench
- time under tension
Phrases with tension
Words that rhyme with tension
- dimension
- intention
- pension
- indention
- intervention
- recension
- condescension
- descension
- gentian
- mention
- resuspension
- advention
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about tension
- What does tension mean?
- Tension means the condition of being held in a state between two or more forces, which are acting in opposition to each other.
- What is tension in Hindi?
- Tension in Hindi is तनाव (tanāv), खिंचाव (khiñcāv), तान (tān). See Tension meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is tension?
- Tension can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce tension?
- Tension is pronounced /ˈtɛnʃən/ (US).
- What is the plural of tension?
- The plural of tension is tensions.
Words near tension in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tension (page history and authors); tension (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tension (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ടെൻഷൻ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); tension (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tension.wav.
Cite this entry: “tension.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tension. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.