Online Google Dictionary

tense 中文解釋 wordnet sense Collocation Usage Collins Definition
Adjective
/tens/,
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tensest, superlative; tenser, comparative;
  1. (esp. of a muscle or someone's body) Stretched tight or rigid
    • - she tried to relax her tense muscles
  2. (of a person) Unable to relax because of nervousness, anxiety, or stimulation
    • - he was tense with excitement
  3. (of a situation, event, etc.) Causing or showing anxiety and nervousness
    • - relations between the two neighboring states had been tense in recent years
  4. (of a speech sound, esp. a vowel) Pronounced with the vocal muscles stretched tight

Verb
  1. Become tense, typically through anxiety or nervousness
    • - her body tensed up
  2. Make (a muscle or one's body) tight or rigid
    • - carefully stretch and then tense your muscles
Noun
  1. A set of forms taken by a verb to indicate the time (and sometimes also the continuance or completeness) of the action in relation to the time of the utterance
    • - the past tense
  1. a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
  2. in or of a state of physical or nervous tension
  3. strain: become stretched or tense or taut; "the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;" "the rope strained when the weight was attached"
  4. increase the tension on; "alternately relax and tense your calf muscle"; "tense the rope manually before tensing the spring"
  5. pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat')
  6. taut or rigid; stretched tight; "tense piano strings"
  7. become tense, nervous, or uneasy; "He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room"
  8. cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious; "he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up"
  9. Tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation or action in time, that indicates when the situation or action takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6: the semantic concept of time reference (absolute or relative), ... may be grammaticalised in a language, i.e. ...
  10. In phonology, tenseness is a particular noun quality that is phonemically contrastive in many languages, including English. It has also occasionally been used to describe contrasts in consonants. ...
  11. Any of the forms of a verb which distinguish when an action or state of being occurs or exists; Showing signs of stress or strain; not relaxed; Pulled taut, without any slack
  12. (Tenses) English has a relatively large number of tenses with some quite subtle differences in their usage. Most learners of English find this difficult to master.
  13. (of a verb)  The tense of a verb specifies the time at which its action occurs. The clearest examples in English are the present and past tenses. When saying I am eating an apple the speaker refers to the present; when saying I was eating an apple, s/he refers to the past. ...
  14. The form of a verb that shows us when the action or state happens (past, present or future). Note that the name of a tense is not always a guide to when the action happens. The “present continuous tense”, for example, can be used to talk about the present or the future.
  15. Finite auxiliary and main verbs in English show a binary (two-way) tense contrast, traditionally said to be between present tense forms and past tense forms. ...
  16. the form taken by a verb to indicate time (as in past-present-future)
  17. A change in the verb to reflect a change in time - past, present, future.
  18. a category of verbal inflection that serves chiefly to specify the time of the action for a verb or a state expressed by the verb. Verbs that are not inflected according to the normal pattern are referred to as Irregular Verbs and are often listed in tables for quick reference.
  19. The placement of a verb in time or circumstance
  20. The time meaning of a verb. For example, the legend is written in past time After 10m at room temperature, the absorbance was determined.
  21. Said of a vowel that is produced with a tongue body or tongue root configuration involving a greater constriction than that found in their lax counterparts. English, for example, has tense /i/ as in wheel contrasting with lax /I/ as in will.
  22. The form of a verb which indicates the time of the action.
  23. A morphological category relating to time reference, eg the Present Tense. Tense is also used more generally to denote the different forms of a verb (eg we speak of the Imperfect Tense and the Preterite Tense, though these two forms are differentiated aspectually rather than temporally).
  24. can be past, present or future. It is the time of the verb’s action. i.e.: Many years ago, you served (past) your country in the Vietnam War. or He serves (present) his country in the war on terrorism. or He will serve (future) his country in future wars.