adjective tenser, tensest
- stretched tight; strained; taut
- feeling, showing, or causing mental strain; anxious
- Phonet. articulated with the jaw and tongue muscles relatively rigid: said of certain vowels, as (ē) and (o̵̅o̅)
Origin:
L tensus, pp. of tendere, to stretch < IE *tend- < base *ten-, to stretch > thin
transitive verb, intransitive verb tensed, tensing
to make or become tense