tension

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“
While the tension was acutely felt on Wall Street, therapists and doctors say the financial woes are spreading beyond the trading-room floors to workers and retirees, who watched with worry as their 401 (k) s withered and their assets diminished.

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Definitions (32)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (11)

  1. noun The act or process of stretching something tight.
  2. noun The condition of so being stretched; tautness.
  3. noun A force tending to stretch or elongate something.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (14)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • This tension was the kind one expected from romantic rivals or siblings. —  Lippman, Laura - [Tess Monaghan 02] - Charm City
  • The need to identify these patterns and reconcile this tension is a recurring theme in my work, explored through the creative lens of shape and color. —  The Sean Show
  • I'm loving that David doesn't seem too impressed with Megan yet, which means the tension could be a nice slow build. —  Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch
  • "In the past, the tension has been there because US containment policies encouraged Taiwan to provoke China, leading to erupting tensions." —  Hyphen Blog
  • When I saw that he was rather calm during our conversation after the debate, I asked him whether the tension is the reason for his current calmness. —  TODAY'S ZAMAN :: News
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

anxiety ·  stress ·  pressure ·  anger ·  uncertainty ·  irritation ·  pain ·  emotion ·  intensity ·  apprehension ·  fatigue ·  resistance

Used in the same contextWord Family

tension:   tensions
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin tēnsiō, tēnsiōn-, a stretching out, from tēnsus, past participle of tendere, to stretch; see tense1.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. = French tension = Spanish tension = Portuguese tensão = Italian tensione, from Latin tensio(n-), a stretching, Middle Latin also a struggle, contest (see tenson), from tendere, past participle tensus, stretch, extend: see tend, tense.
  2. from tension, n.
 

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/ˈtɛnʃən/
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